Swindon-based e-business consultant GlobalData is launching an innovative software package this month which aims to encourage and facilitate car sharing among the town's business community.

The web-based program is designed to enable employees to link up locally with other commuters.

According to Rae Lonsdale, founder of GlobalData: "We expect to see several of the largest Swindon employers taking up the system in the next few months.

"The software can be used both intra-company or on a larger scale to link up employees in different companies."

The GlobalData package has been developed in co-operation with the Swindon Chamber of Commerce.

Welcoming Global's initiative, Dennis Grant, chief executive of the Chamber said: "With traffic pollution, congestion and car parking being key issues in Swindon, it seems incongruous that an obvious solution such as a car share scheme is not being evaluated by employers.

"Not only is car sharing a sound investment by any organisation in respect of relieving traffic issues, but it is also an ideal way to reduce car parking problems."

Ms Lonsdale, a member of Friends of the Earth, believes in the social responsibility of car-sharing, and that it offers practical benefits to the commuter.

"Car sharing can make commuting cheaper and has the potential to reduce the cost of car ownership by sharing the financial burden with your colleagues," she said.

"However, car sharing has had most impact where companies provide worthwhile incentives such as priority parking, prize draws and vouchers towards childcare."

Globaldata is now planning to develop the concept on a county-wide basis and would eventually like to see it embraced on a pan-European basis in the future.

Ms Lonsdale said: "It's a multi-lingual system which could be adopted by companies throughout the world."

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For further information on its car sharing package, call 01793 484990.