UKC

Traveling this year, I have met a few people, French IIRC, and they seem to use Bla Bla car a lot 

Seems great for many reasons, environmental and cost being two obvious ones.

Do many climbers use this?

Yes, I've used it, both as a passenger and as a driver. It's great. In my experience it's very popular in France, less so elsewhere.

It's a great idea. I've used it as a driver in the UK, but it's not as popular as in France, so unless you're on a popular route, you may have trouble finding passengers or rides.

I've also had cases where people have failed to turn up on time, and will try and string you along for the next hour or so. You have to be fairly ruthless when that happens or people take the piss.

I've used Liftshare, both as a driver and passenger. Though similar to BlaBlaCar, it's only really useful for going between major cities, as carsharing is under utilised in the UK, hence your chances of finding sharers between smaller population centres are slim.

The BMC agreed a partnership with Liftshare, though I imagine it's pretty rare to find a ride to a climbing location. https://www.thebmc.co.uk/bmcs-launches-lift-share-site

For so many reasons carsharing seems great conceptually, but in the UK, sadly it's never really taken off. I've similarly heard BlaBlaCar is all the rage in France.

To all,

Thanks

This seems a shame. Seems a really good thing for climbers, a win win. Driver gets some dosh. Passenger gets a cheap ride. Less pollution. 

I wonder why it never caught on in the UK.

Probably because we are, as a population on average, more reserved.  I can't imagine anything worse than sharing a car with a randomer, not knowing if you'll get on or not.  And lone women in particular might fear attack.

I dislike taxi journeys enough!

TBH, I tend not to assign a characteristic to an entire nation, but if pushed into a corner, from my observations of the many nationalities I meet when traveling, I would actually say the French are the most reserved.

But I doubt that's it, more likely, France is a large country with big distances to travel between cities.

My climbing partner, French, female, 40s, uses it regularly for long trips. And thinks it great. 

I am trying to fly less, so possibly a strategy is coach to Calais then bla bla on into france.

'For so many reasons carsharing seems great conceptually, but in the UK, sadly it's never really taken off. '

I think it used to be called 'hitch-hiking.'  Between the ages of 16 and 30 I rarely travelled any other way. Like Bruce Springsteen, I still miss it!

Hitch hiking is still out, there picked up French couple on my way to Pembroke last year, they hitch hike every where, get this, he hitch hiked a yacht from Gib to the Caribbean.

Met another French lad, on the ferry from tangier to spain, an actor on his way back from a film shoot in the Sahara. Hi hitches an bla Blas, said he hitched from Calais to uk, so got a free ferry crossing.

Hitchhiking is still quite popular in some parts of France (or was at least up in till COVID, not sure if that changed things) whereas it's pretty much dead on the UK, so it's no surprise they've taken to technological car sharing easier.