Toyota Financial Services has bought a majority stake in ride-sharing platform Faxi in order to develop its own car-pooling platform.

Faxi is an app-based service that enables incentivised ride-sharing by reimbursing the driver for fuel and wear and tear.

It uses smart phone telemetry to measure the proximity of the driver and passengers to prove whether or not journeys have in fact been shared. 

The two brands have worked together for the past year.

Doug Gillies, managing director of Toyota Financial Services (UK ), said: “In addition to delivering sales support for environmentally friendly hybrid electric technology, Toyota Financial Services is engaging in new mobility solutions.

“Building on the partnership with Faxi, TFS decided to invest in Faxi to introduce technology to reduce single occupancy vehicles and the congestion and emissions that they cause.  This is a game-changing technology and we’re excited to get behind it with our brand.”

Through the Faxi app, users can find and connect with colleagues who share the same route to work and commute at similar times. It allows companies to verify employee carpooling in real time and to offer incentives and rewards, such as priority parking, to car poolers.

These remuneration policies have proven to be successful: one UK based customer increased co-worker carpooling from under 10 to over 200 passengers and drivers per month in just six months.

Toyota currently runs several projects across six cities in Europe and three around the globe.

Tony Lynch, chief executive and co-founder of Faxi, said: “Large organisations across the globe have workplace parking issues. In addition to benefiting companies by solving this concern, employees are encouraged to carpool with co-workers by for example earning a reserved parking space. Ultimately, if more people carpool, this can have a considerable downsizing effect on the number of cars on the road, benefitting an entire community.”

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