Car pooling scheme starts in Wanaka

CRIS JOHNSTON/134270

CATCHING A RIDE: Winter Games NZ sports manager Mags Helles (right) with Sustainable Wanaka general manager Sophie Ward at the new share a ride site in Ardmore St.

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Car pooling has arrived in the Upper Clutha thanks to a new scheme started by Sustainable Wanaka.

WanaRide-Share hit the streets of Wanaka, Hawea Flat, Lake Hawea, Albert Town and Luggate this month with each centre boasting a designated pickup point where would-be passengers and motorists could link up.

Sustainable Wanaka general manager Sophie Ward said the idea had developed out of last year's Wanakafest and was supported by the Queenstown Lakes District Council as well as the Luggate, Hawea, and Albert Town community associations.

With minimal public transport in the district, the ride share scheme, co-ordinated by Ieuan Davies, of Wanaka, would provide people with an alternative to using private cars and reduce the number of single occupancy vehicles on the roads, Ms Ward said.

The concept was user friendly with people able to wait at signposted meeting points and "strongly encouraged" to contribute financially to the fuel costs of their journey. "We are sure drivers will be keen to pick up other people," Ms Ward said.

Lake Hawea resident Mags Helles said she spent up to $50 a week on fuel travelling to and from Wanaka.

Sharing transport could halve that figure, she said.

Both women said that although people would need to exercise common sense and at times caution about accepting rides with people they didn't know, they considered Wanaka a safe community and one well used to hitch-hiking, which had become established behaviour in the town especially in the winter months. In Wanaka the WanaRide-Share pickup point is outside the McKenzie and Willis building at the corner of Ardmore and Brownston streets.

- © Fairfax NZ News