Why is BlaBlaCar carpooling not popular in the UK?

[dmncf]

Over the past few years I have read news articles about how French railway operator SNCF considers the BlaBlaCar carpooling company to be a serious competitor. Then in November 2018 SNCF sold its Ouibus subsidiary to BlaBlaCar and took an equity stake in BlaBlaCar:
https://www.railwaygazette.com/news...s-to-blablacar-in-multimodal-partnership.html

As far as I am aware, long distance (rather than short distance commuter) carpooling is not common in the UK, and BlaBlaCar has a much stronger presence in continental Europe. Why do you think this is?

 

[Bletchleyite]

As far as I am aware, long distance (rather than short distance commuter) carpooling is not common in the UK, and BlaBlaCar has a much stronger presence in continental Europe. Why do you think this is?

British awkwardness? I wouldn't want to share a long car journey with a total stranger.

 

[Meerkat]

That and the tabloids convincing us that every third person is a murderer/rapist....

 

[fowler9]

British awkwardness? I wouldn't want to share a long car journey with a total stranger.

I hate long car journeys with people I know. Ha ha. With strangers it would be a nightmare.

 

[pdeaves]

It would require a lot of British people to, simultaneously, acknowledge that other people exist. We as a nation are not good at that.

 

[edwin_m]

For a lot of people choosing to drive rather than taking public transport, the reason is that it's much more convenient to travel door to door rather than having to make several changes and fit in with someone else's timetables. Car sharing removes a lot of that benefit because your journey has to compromise to fit with someone else's.

Like others on here, I can tolerate sharing a train or bus with strangers provided they are reasonably well behaved, but I'd absolutely hate having to share a car.

 

[TheSeeker]

My brother in law lives in Strasbourg and regularly does car sharing when he drives up to see us near Brussels (a five hour drive). The feedback from passengers is key, he has a good reputation and is easy going if people want to chat or keep their headphones on. The last time we planned to go and see him I looked at TGV prices as there is a direct Brussels-Strasbourg train. For a family of four it was very expensive (something like 700 euro if you don't book well in advance). You can see why these car sharing services are so popular.

 

[farci]

Instead of car pool, another possibility to consider is one-way car hire for £1/€1 as shown on this website. This company contracts with car hire companies to move their excess stock around at a reasonable price

 

[gordonthemoron]

Mitfahrzentral in Germany has been going for Donkey's years. At least it ups the occupancy of cars

 

[squizzler]

It's a good question. One possible factor might be is that apart from London and Manchester, most British cities have a commercial centre and the predominant residential area is the suburbs, so there are fewer opportunities for people to pool car trips from centre to centre. But on the other hand that would handicap trains too.

Another possibility: the UK benefits from extremely low train fares for people who are willing to give up their flexibility, and maybe this is what has headed off the blablacar competition.

 

[theageofthetra]

I would have thought there will be car insurance implications here. Not sure how it works in mainland Europe.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would have thought there will be car insurance implications here. Not sure how it works in mainland Europe.

There aren't provided you don't take any more money than your share of running costs, which are widely accepted to be a total of 45p per mile by HMRC so this figure tends to be taken as a non-profit figure by most organisations (so 22.5p per mile each if two are sharing, or 15p for three, or whatever).

Most private car insurance policies have a specific exemption to "hire or reward" for car-sharing where the driver does not receive any money in excess of running costs. The Government I believe encourages this.

 

[Craig2601]

I hate long car journeys with people I know. Ha ha. With strangers it would be a nightmare.

I think there are “blabla” levels on the app, with one being not up for any chat and three wanting to.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think there are “blabla” levels on the app, with one being not up for any chat and three wanting to.

Yes, there indeed are, though it can still be awkward. It's certainly not something I'd fancy.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Mitfahrzentral in Germany has been going for Donkey's years. At least it ups the occupancy of cars

Yeah, I recall it coming up as a thing in school German lessons. Very common for a university or similar to have a bureau organising lift shares well before the Internet was a thing.

 

[fowler9]

I think there are “blabla” levels on the app, with one being not up for any chat and three wanting to.

That's cool. My main issue is being stuck in a car though. I can't stand up and stretch my legs, can't go for for a wee. Add that to bring stuck in a stranger's car and having to ask if I can go for a wee at the services in 50 miles time. Also if I am going to the match or on holiday I might like to have a beer on my journey. All in all it sounds a good thing but completely not for me. I struggle to think of a journey which I would be desperate to make but be so skint I would have to go in a stranger's car. At least for any kind of distance.

 

[Craig2601]

That's cool. My main issue is being stuck in a car though. I can't stand up and stretch my legs, can't go for for a wee. Add that to bring stuck in a stranger's car and having to ask if I can go for a wee at the services in 50 miles time. Also if I am going to the match or on holiday I might like to have a beer on my journey. All in all it sounds a good thing but completely not for me.

Completely agree, would never personally use the service myself as other forms of transport are much preferable.

 

[axlecounter]

Another possibility: the UK benefits from extremely low train fares for people who are willing to give up their flexibility, and maybe this is what has headed off the blablacar competition.

Is it?!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is it?!

I think it's British awkwardness that's headed it off. Were Advances not available, I think more people would just drive on their own or with people known to them, and the coaches would be doing better too.

 

[TheSeeker]

Based on experience with my inlaws and friends on the continent there is also a culture of driving much longer distances compared to the UK (a relatively small island). Friends here don't think twice about driving to the south of France or Switzerland for holidays. We drive from Belgium to Portugal to spend our summer holidays with my wife's parents, leave at 3am and you're there by 10pm. It's obviously much quicker to fly but we take a trailer and bring back all the things that are better and cheaper there. Not sure if it makes much sense economically but it is certainly an adventure.

 

[squizzler]

Is it?!

According to the infographic on this page, the discounts for advance bookings are greatest in the UK. I decided not to display here because the file is rather big.

The SNCF have got wise to blablacar and coach operators and are now offering discounted train travel - but in dedicated OUI-whatever services not the normal trains. In the UK the economy fares are on the same trains as everybody else, giving much more flexibility on routes and times, just so long as you can get in early.

 

[Craig2601]

I also believe that it can be down to the unreliability of train services, for example in Italy, where it can be expected to have a delay on regional trains.

 

[Meerkat]

Long distance coach services are a very new thing in France aren’t they?
Whereas in the UK coaches have been the skinflint/broke transport for decades

 

[SHD]

SNCF has a long tradition - at least 20 years - of offering significant discounts on TGV services in exchange for “advance” type tickets with zero flexibility. This long pre-dates OUIGO (Joker 8/Joker 30 fares and their Prem’s successors).
Discounted TGV fares are still available by the way, e.g. Paris-Brest in March on a Tuesday or a Wednesday: 39€ in standard, 46€ in First. Before OUIGO was introduced, these fares could be as low as 25€.

I rather think that the success of BlaBlacar in France was triggered by the inexistence or very poor quality of rail services on many cross-country journeys (Lyon-Bordeaux, Lyon-Nancy, Lille-Rouen, Bordeaux-Marseille...)

 

[SHD]

Long distance coach services are a very new thing in France aren’t they?
Whereas in the UK coaches have been the skinflint/broke transport for decades

Indeed. This is a very good argument

 

[Bletchleyite]

Long distance coach services are a very new thing in France aren’t they?
Whereas in the UK coaches have been the skinflint/broke transport for decades

Yes, the French Government liked to protect SNCF (just as the German Government did DB) by not allowing them to operate. However, the EU forced them to deregulate and now they are doing quite well like they do in the UK.

Spain has had them for a long time, and they do well there, including some quite premium offers which work because most long distance trains fill up and so a "walk up"[1] option is needed which becomes the coach.

[1] Most NatEx journeys I have done I walked up and bought a ticket, to be fair. There is quite often the odd spare seat.

 

[SHD]

It is quite an exaggeration to write that long distance bus services “are doing quite well” in France. There is a sizeable network now, and they have found a clientèle, but they are very, very far from the financial success & profitability levels that they enjoy in the UK or in Spain.

 

[Jordeh]

I've looked at journeys from London-Nottingham and they're usually £20-25 - which is no cheaper than the train and definitely slower and more inconvenient.

However, I have used it in France once and it was around £10 for a 2 hour journey. I'm not sure why there is such a price disparity or whether it's just my experience, but it's simply not economic in the UK whereas it is in France.

 

[radamfi]

I've looked at journeys from London-Nottingham and they're usually £20-25 - which is no cheaper than the train and definitely slower and more inconvenient.

However, I have used it in France once and it was around £10 for a 2 hour journey. I'm not sure why there is such a price disparity or whether it's just my experience, but it's simply not economic in the UK whereas it is in France.

Are you sure you are comparing like with like? I just checked National Express fares for the middle of February and it is easy to find £6 fares (plus £1 booking fee). For today, the 0830 is £9.30 and the 1030 and 1330 are £16.80 (all plus £1 booking fee). The lowest walk on single fare using LNER changing at Grantham is £32.30.

 

[Jordeh]

Are you sure you are comparing like with like? I just checked National Express fares for the middle of February and it is easy to find £6 fares (plus £1 booking fee). For today, the 0830 is £9.30 and the 1030 and 1330 are £16.80 (all plus £1 booking fee). The lowest walk on single fare using LNER changing at Grantham is £32.30.

Are you aware that this is a thread about BlaBlaCar and that I made no mention of National Express?

It does however illustrate my point that BlaBlaCar is not competitive due to it's high prices.