MORE than 6,000 car drivers across the country now share their journeys - and it's all down to a Manchester mum's website.

And Gloria Gabriel's groundbreaking site mylifts.com been put forward for a major international award.

mylifts.com beat off 320 other applications to be nominated in the environment category of the Tech Museum Award.

The awards, which originated in San Jose in California's Silicon Valley, recognise people all over the world who use technology to improve lives.

The website, founded by Gloria, of Withington, in 1997, was invented by US academics and matches up potential car sharers and also plots out their journeys.

Driving buddies register for free and are matched by a whole range of factors, including languages spoken, favourite type of music, smoking preference, jobs and hobbies.

Gloria, a social sciences graduate, explained: "mylifts.com is primarily about people sharing lifts to and from work and during their spare time, to help cut down on the environmental damage from cars.

Cost savings

"But obviously there are cost savings for individuals in sharing a journey - and the possibility of making a new friend, business acquaintance, or even finding a date!

"And with the cost of street parking in Manchester to rise to twice that of Birmingham, there's certainly an increasing incentive for local people to start lift-sharing.

"We received quite a lot of publicity at launch and then as the number of sharers has grown news of us has spread by word of mouth."

Gloria says her oldest sharer is in his 50s and her youngest is 18.

If mylifts.com wins the award, Gloria stands to receive a cheque for $50,000 - '30,000 - and meet patron Kofi Anan, UN Secretary General.

The winner in each of five categories - equality, environment, economic development, education, and health - will be announced in September. Tweet