Community car scheme software

What is a community car scheme?

A community car scheme, sometimes called a volunteer car service, uses volunteer drivers to take people on journeys they can't easily make by bus or taxi. That might be a hospital appointment, a GP visit, the shops or a day centre. Passengers are usually members of the scheme, and many schemes ask for a contribution towards the cost of each trip. Volunteers often drive their own cars, and the scheme pays them a mileage allowance.

Most schemes start with a diary, a spreadsheet and a lot of phone calls. That works until there are more trips than one coordinator can keep in their head. Community car scheme software keeps the bookings, the drivers and the paperwork in one place, so nothing relies on a single notebook.

Booking a member's trip

In OpenCommute, a car scheme trip is a one-to-one booking: one member, a pickup and a drop-off. Coordinators take the booking in the admin panel, and it stays in draft until a driver is assigned. If the member needs to come home again, create the return trip with the pickup and drop-off swapped. A buffer places it after the original journey. Regular lifts, such as a weekly dialysis appointment, can be repeated weekly or monthly. You can preview the dates first and skip any that clash.

Members don't book online yet. Staff and volunteers make bookings for them today, and a member app is coming soon.

Finding a volunteer driver

Volunteer drivers are listed first when you assign a driver to a one-to-one trip. Each driver can have weekly hours and exceptions saved against their record. Once those are set, a trip outside their hours can't be assigned to them. The same driver can't be saved onto two overlapping trips either.

When you've picked someone, email them a driving request with accept and decline links. Their reply, including "not available", is stored on the booking's activity log. You get a record of who was asked and what they said, instead of a list of morning phone calls.

Keeping drivers safe and compliant

Volunteer records hold driving licence details, DBS, right to work and First Aid status. A missing, expired or unsigned licence can block assignment. You can also record qualifications and training, such as MiDAS or your own induction, with expiry dates and warnings before they lapse.

Mileage, contributions and invoices

When a trip is complete, record the end mileage on the booking. If a volunteer's own car is set up as a vehicle, its miles are tracked per trip in the same way. You then create the invoice for the member's contribution straight from the booking, using your hourly, daily or mileage pricing. Members can pay by card through Stripe or by Direct Debit through GoCardless when those are connected, and you can record cash or cheque payments by hand.

OpenCommute doesn't run volunteer expense claims or pay drivers. The Mileage report shows recorded and billable miles by vehicle, booking type and driver, which helps when you work out mileage payments. Our guide to volunteer driver mileage rates covers the 2026/27 HMRC rate.

Reports for trustees and funders

Printable and CSV reports cover bookings, mileage, staff availability, licence checks, qualifications, invoices and payments. They don't produce a funder's form for you, but they give you the trip and mileage figures most funders and trustees ask for. See the reports overview.

Car scheme and minibus on one diary

Plenty of schemes run a minibus alongside their volunteer cars. One-to-one lifts, dial-a-ride shared routes, group hire and blocked vehicle time all sit on the same calendar, with MOT, tax and insurance tracked per vehicle. See all features or compare plans and pricing.