Fenty Administration Launches DC Fleet Share Program

 CONTACT:  Jack Pfeiffer (EOM) (202) 727-1751
           Alan Heymann (DDOE)(202) 741-2136
                                                                         
Washington, D.C. – Today, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty joined by Zipcar chairman and CEO Scott Griffith announced the launch of DC Fleet Share, the District’s new, innovative vehicle fleet management program.

DC Fleet Share is the nation’s first revolutionary motor pool system that allows District Government employees to access and reserve city vehicles with a simple click of a mouse. This new program not only maximizes work efficiency, but also saves the city millions of dollars by reducing the District’s vehicle fleet- greatly lowering carbon emissions.

The program is available through FastFleet, a new Zipcar service that enables governments to save money, reduce risk and promote sustainability with the same technology that powers Zipcar’s consumer fleet.

District staff can now log on to www.dcfleetshare.netand select a vehicle type and location. With one swipe of a city issued access card, through an integrated card reader mounted under the windshield; employees can easily unlock and access a vehicle for official District Government business use.

“We are proud to be the first city to work with Zipcar in implementing an innovative program that not only maximizes work efficiency for our District employees, but also saves the city money and lowers carbon emissions,” said Mayor Fenty.

The Administration piloted the program last Oct. in an effort to fulfill the Administration’s goal of eliminating 150 vehicles from the city’s motor fleet. To date, the District has trimmed approximately 360 vehicles from the fleet, yielding an estimated savings of $6.6 million over five years.

“DC is leading the way for cities to implement cost effective and sustainable solutions for fleet management,” said Scott Griffith, chairman and CEO of Zipcar.  “We are pleased to partner with DC to launch our FastFleet solution and bring the benefits of our car sharing technology to governments across the country.”

DC Fleet Share reduces costs by maximizing fleet utilization on an hourly basis, allowing a high number of trips to be supported by a smaller number of vehicles. Fleet Share cars average as many as 10 drivers for every one car. DC Fleet Share combined with the city’s fleet reduction yields an estimated reduction of 800-900 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Vehicles may be tracked and located through a global positioning system. In addition, several critical tasks can now be electronically managed, such as, accident resolution, preventive maintenance, fueling, billing and fleet distribution. This enables the city to put safer vehicles on the road, and safer drivers behind the wheel.

Twenty-nine vehicles and four sites were introduced last fall as part of the pilot rollout. Today’s launch includes 58 vehicles located at eight sites. Fifty-six of them are hybrid and alternative fueled.