Aylesbury Vale District Council said it would save around £100,000 a year after introducing a car sharing and rental programme after an analysis of its grey fleet spend.
Staff travelling on council business are now using nine low emission vehicles – two of which are completely electric – instead of their own cars. These have been provided by Enterprise Rent-a-car.
Enterprise found that 81% of the council’s trips were shorter than 50 miles and 71% lasted for fewer than four hours.
The council said the most common reason for its employees not using public transport was because there was a lack of a train station near their destinations.
The rental giant said it has provided access to its online technology so they can hire vehicles on a daily basis for longer journeys.
“It is important that the council leads from the front to demonstrate what can be done to reduce our impact on the environment,” said Sir Beville Stanier, the council’s cabinet member for environment and health.
“We are committed to finding more environmentally sustainable ways of doing business and daily business travel is part of that,” said Stanier.
