Many people who never used a lift club or shared a shuttle with other commuters to work before may wonder what it is like. I used to ride with a lift club before, and I guess many people considering it will find it helpful to learn from my experience.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, I used to work in Sea Point, which is about 35 kilometers from my house. I worked for an Australian company with an offshore office in Cape Town, and the starting times were quite early to match a portion of the day with the schedule of our overseas colleagues. When I started, I realised that I can’t depend on public transport to get me to work on time every day, so I Googled for daily shared transport from my area to Seapoint.
I stumbled on a lift club that used a shuttle service instead of carpooling. My soon to be fellow commuters organised themselves and contracted the service. It appears that the group had been together for years and went through several transport operators together. Some of the horror stories of previous providers they experienced included frequent breakdowns along the way, operators running out of money in the middle of the month and demanding petrol money to keep going and having to commute in garbage-filled vans.
When I joined, the shuttle service provided a van with a spacious interior – it only had 13 seats inside. The van was clean every day, and we were picked up on time. From what I have learned from current riders, they still use the same service to this day.
We were a motley crew that worked in various industries, ranging from hospitality to finance and IT. It can be quite the bonding experience to share your morning commute with a bunch of people, and some of us remain friends long after we went out separate ways.
If you are interested in sharing a shuttle to work, give Faircape Shuttle Service a call so that we can look into putting you in contact with lift club groups that we are currently working with.