City joins car-sharing program to reduce fleet

As part of its citywide Fleet Reduction Project, the administration of Mayor John Street announced yesterday that it is taking further steps to significantly reduce the number of vehicles it provides to city employees.

Phase one of the program has already commenced, with 50 city vehicles recently eliminated and auctioned to the public.

"The concrete results of the project will be a smaller, more efficient and effective fleet," City Managing Director Phil Goldsmith said in a city press release. "[T]ake-home vehicles, administrative sedans and SUVs and underutilized operational vehicles are being taken out of the fleet."

Specifically, city officials said yesterday that Philadelphia is partnering with PhillyCarShare -- a local vehicle-sharing provider -- to provide transportation to those employees who do not have personal means by which to travel.

Goldsmith highlighted the program as having "a dual purpose in lowering costs and freeing up mechanics to work on priority matters," as well as aiding the environment through decreased exhaust pollution.

The city currently operates about 6,500 non-police cars and spends $6,200 annually on labor, parking, fuel, parts and acquisition costs.

Under the Fleet Reduction Project, the Street administration hopes to eliminate 400 of these vehicles, freeing thousands of dollars to supplement parking, auto parts and maintenance of the others.

To replace the auctioned city vehicles, the Street administration is currently exploring cost-effective, alternate solutions for employee transportation.

"While certain city employees require vehicular transportation, the provision of a dedicated city-owned vehicle is usually the most expensive option," Goldsmith said. "In the future, employees who need transportation will be directed to other accommodations."

Through the partnership with PhillyCarShare, city employees will have constant access to the organization's fleet of wagons and hybrid gas-electric sedans.

According to Goldsmith, Philadelphia is the first city in the United States to institute a governmental car share program.

The partnership with the vehicle provider represents "one of many other firsts for which Philadelphia will be known" and will go a long way toward "reducing automobile dependency in the [city] area," PhillyCarShare Executive Director Tanya Seaman said.

With 17 Center City and University City services, PhillyCarShare hopes to allow multiple city employees to travel simultaneously, thereby cutting travel costs and promoting transportation efficiency and structure in a government that is facing major cuts this year.

"This is an exciting day for Philadelphia. We think we are on the cutting edge," Goldsmith said, adding that "every [city] department will have access to car share."

Currently, the city is also instituting its Personal Auto Program. Under this system, city employees are compensated for the miles of business travel they put on their own automobiles.

The Personal Auto Program is run by the Risk Management Division in the city's Finance Department and currently has almost 300 participants, but hopes to expand on that number in the coming years.

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