If you've spent many a Monday morning getting soaked at the bus stop on your way to work, then Croydon's Lift Share scheme could offer a more comfortable, cheaper alternative.

A Council spokesperson told the Guardian: "The council supports car sharing as part of an overall sustainable transport plan to encourage people to reduce their reliance on cars. The outcome of this has benefits not only for the environment, with less pollution, but also on our health, from not having to breathe in these fumes."

Run in conjunction with the South East London Transport Strategy (SELTRANS), Liftshare.com and Croydon Council the scheme, open to anyone over the age of 16, puts people travelling in the same direction in contact with each other.

Whatever your journey, it allows you to travel together and share the costs, whilst reducing congestion and pollution.

Sharing a car is part of a wider initiative to help the environment, as a council spokesperson explained: "This scheme fits in with government policies and works together with other initiatives to promote sustainable transport, such as using public transport, walking and cycling, all of which are better for the environment and for the community."

Once you have registered your journey the information is added to the database and possible matches are sent to you via email giving you the details of other people doing the same or a similar journey.

To ensure members privacy, arrangements are made via email so that a public collection point can be arranged. For safety reasons members are advised to bring ID when meeting other members.

Calculating the cost of fuel at 20p per mile the scheme recommends that passengers pay 10p per mile each and £1 towards general wear and tear.

As a driver, giving one person a lift will halve fuel costs, two passengers will cover fuel costs and a third passenger will start to repay some of the additional costs of running a car. The extra benefit for the passenger is that a 100 mile journey can be covered at a cost of £11.

Safety is obviously a top priority and female-only car sharing schemes are available, meeting near public transport links, so that alternative transport options are available if the need arises. It is also advisable not to not give out home address for security reasons.

There is no need to be worry out the effects of your motor insurance either, a spokesperson at the Association of British Insurers said: "Participating in the lift share scheme will not invalidate drivers' motor insurance. Drivers in doubt should contact their insurers."

Joining the scheme is free, for more details or to register visit www.liftshare.org.