09.05.13
Car-sharing introduced for Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire County Council has introduced a car-sharing programme to provide more flexible and cost-effective transport for staff. The move aims to control cost and educe emissions.
The council has purchased eight new low-emission vehicles to move away from the use of grey fleet. Around 250 of 5,000 employees have already signed up to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car scheme.
The programme will be primarily targeted at frequent, short-term trips. If the pilot is successful, the programme will be extended.
Alison Hurley, facilities services manager at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “We’ve adopted Enterprise’s car sharing programme because it tallies with our flexible working objectives, which encourage our employees to think about the way they travel for business and consider the most cost-effective way to do so.
“We intend to make car sharing the primary form of transport for our employees at the three initial locations wherever appropriate. Using Enterprise’s car sharing programme rather than running our own pool car scheme will reduce costs and administration, and we’re encouraging all our staff to use these vehicles rather than their own cars for work journeys.
“Sustainability and duty of care are the other major considerations. We have no influence over the CO2 emissions and condition of our employees' own cars, many of which could be several years old and much larger than they need to be for the journey in question.
“The Enterprise cars we are using will be brand new and regularly maintained, ensuring they are safe to drive, plus we’ll benefit from the most fuel-efficient technologies and be able to track and minimise emissions over time. This will help us both reduce our carbon footprint and improve driver safety.”
Adrian Bewley, director of business rental at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, added: “This type of car sharing programme is ideal for businesses and especially for the public sector, where many organisations operate their own pool cars and the ‘grey fleet’ is currently still a preferred mobility option for many employees.
“Using a specialist car sharing service means workers who make shorter, more frequent journeys can utilise cars that are shared instead of using their own. Meanwhile, their employers save money, have a better grasp of the environmental impact of their business travel and don’t face the same liability concerns over the condition of the vehicles being driven.”
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