01.08.12
York Council adopts car-sharing scheme
York City Council is adopting an hourly rental car share service for its staff to travel to work.
The council is using the scheme to tackle transport costs and move away from the ‘grey fleet’ model of transport where employees use their own cars for business journeys and claim mileage reimbursement.
Five vehicles are making up the pilot scheme, offered by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which the council is adopting at its main site, EcoDepot at Hazel Court in York. When the council moves to a new central headquarters later this year, the programme will be expanded to include 25 cars.
The programme is being targeted at covering short trips like site visits, surveys and inspections, which council employees have to make frequently.
So far, 170 employees have signed up to the scheme at the Hazel Court site. 20% of the 5,000 employees that York City Council employs are still using their own cars for work journeys.
Geoff Derham, head of waste and fleet services at York City Council, said: “We intend to make hourly rental the primary form of transport for our employees in York wherever appropriate. Having fewer cars, used by more employees and at one fixed monthly fee, will mean that business journeys will cost less per mile.
“There are also significant sustainability considerations. We have no influence over the CO2 emissions from employees’ own cars, many of which will be several years old and larger than they need to be for the journey in question. The Enterprise cars we are using will be smaller vehicles under a year old so we will benefit from the most fuel-efficient technologies from day one, plus we will be able to track and minimise them over time.”
Rob Ingram, director of business rental at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, said: “Staff who make shorter, more frequent journeys can rent cars by the hour instead of using their own.
“Their employers save money, have a better grasp of the environmental impact of their business travel and don’t have the same liability worries over the condition of the vehicles being driven.”
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