by Brianna Crandall — October 27, 2014—Following the lead of popular low-cost commercial car-sharing ventures, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is actively pursuing similar initiatives to help federal agencies reduce costs, improve efficiency, and optimize vehicle use—FMs who manage fleets for their facilities, take note.
In pursuit of these initiatives, GSA issued an award to four vendors to provide car-sharing services on August 26. The four vendors will provide car-sharing as an option for federal employees that use government vehicles on a short-term hourly basis, not to exceed the one-day maximum.
According to GSA Federal Acquisition Services Commissioner Tom Sharpe, “GSA manages more than 200,000 vehicles, one of the largest non-tactical fleets in the U.S. Government. This commonsense approach to filling short-term transportation needs will help agencies reduce costs and allow them to focus their limited resources on mission-critical work.
“We are excited about the ongoing developments in car-sharing technology and will continue to test new ways to implement pooling and sharing solutions. These pilots will tell us whether it is more cost-effective and beneficial to use a car-sharing service in lieu of taxi cabs, renting, leasing and/or purchasing a vehicle. That information will be a great step forward to reducing costs and the federal fleet over time.”
Key facts and information
- Four vendors were awarded contracts to provide car-sharing services: Enterprise CarShare, ZipCar, Hertz, and Carpingo.
- GSA will pilot car-sharing as an option for federal agencies in Washington, DC; New York City; Boston and Chicago.
- The pilots will explore how these commonsense, highly successful commercial car-sharing solutions can work to improve efficiency in the federal fleet and reduce transportation costs government-wide.
- GSA anticipates that the demand for car sharing in the federal government will increase due to budget constraints and the need to improve efficiency and savings in government operations.
- Car sharing allows agency flexibility and access to vehicles for short-term use; saves money by reducing the need to purchase new vehicles; and provides a more sustainable approach to government fleet management.
