The pasty connection has evolved out of a need for people living in Cornwall wanting to travel to the rest of the UK.
8 years ago after an evening of wine and food and animated discussion, AJ Bennets and I Came to the conclusion that there was a need for a lift share community to serve those living on the peninsula.
Over the years many west Penwithiens had migrated "Up The Line " many to Bristol but their desire for a good Cornish pasty was unabated.
Because of this need, a loose group of people was always offering to take pasties up to Bristol as and when they were traveling up.
What Aj and I concluded on that night was that wouldnt it be great to turn pasties into people and set up a lift share site to assist not only pasties but people to travel out of Cornwall.
All other methods are either expensive awkward or inconvenient.
And if you own a car the fuel prices can prevent some on lower earnings from traveling due to costs.
Hence the pasty connection was born.
Over the years the facebook page has gone from strength to strength.
It now has over 32,000 members and due to the nature of the facebook page has started to suffer under its own success.
Due to the number of posts on a daily basis many posts, if posted well before the lift is offered, get lost due to the sheer number of posts.
About two years ago Members started to ask me if there was anything I could do to improve what was already a thriving community. An App was suggested and I decided that was the way to develop the community.
Over the last 18 months, I have come up with a plan . Pitched my idea to the ATI (acceleration through innovation) scheme at the Plymouth University. I have been awarded a grant and developed a lift share app.
The app has many advanced features such as location awareness of your co lift shares on the day of transport, the legality of a vehicle through numberplate input, advanced search options and ratings from previous lifts shared,
Over time users will develop a reputation based on feedback assisting people in their decision to travel with each other.
Prior to the lift, both parties can communicate freely through the app with Instant messages private messages in-app calls as well as viewing the Profile of the person they are considering traveling with.
Once they have committed to sharing a lift on the day of travel they will receive a notification an hour before the intended departure reminding them of there intended lift share. At that point, you will be able to navigate through the app to the person you are picking up or track your lift provider on a map in real time.
The members will arrange there own money. Generally if its one passenger they split the fule. Once there are more than two passengers it is up to those involved to come to a mutual agreement.
A contribution towards cost fuel tax oil etc is legal as long as it doesnt approach serious profit making. The pasty connection has evolved out of a need for people living in Cornwall wanting to travel to the rest of the UK.
We are hoping that this lift share community will continue to assist students, commuters and festival and gig-goers and travelers to travel economically and environmentally into the future.
As it grows we hope to ultimately be of service to everybody in the UK
When diving on motorways is so saddening to see so many cars traveling long distances with single passengers.
We want to do our part to take cars off the road and decrease pollution helping to reduce emissions.
Along with that, a journey shared is a journey halved. We have received lots of feedback over the years about wonderful meetings and experiences that have occurred during lift shares.
Sam
The pasty connection