Adopting a car club programme for employees has meant CO2 emissions savings of two tonnes per month, according to Gloucestershire County Council.
The programme operated by Enterprise Car Club means eight dedicated vehicles – two Nissan Leafs, two Toyota Priuses and three Hyundai i20s – are based at the council’s headquarters, with more than 450 of the authority’s 2,000 employees having signed up to drive them.
It means employees involved always drive modern, well-maintained cars for business trips, and lessens the need for them to commute by car, reducing pressure on city centre parking.
Other benefits include providing detailed journey and usage data, and reassurance that the cars are insured for business use.
The vehicles are booked and accessed via a mobile app and charged at a pence-per-mile rate lower than that of grey fleet reimbursement.
Council commissioning officer Will Spendlove said: “We’re developing a comprehensive travel policy for employees to reduce our costs and make our business travel more sustainable.
“Enterprise was able to analyse the data of how and why our employees travel and use it to design a more efficient, tailored programme to help us move away from the grey fleet. The data analysis demonstrated a car club was a key part of that equation.”
“The on-site car club is not only helping us to reduce our risk, but it also encourages our employees to use more sustainable hybrid and electric vehicles. These are most useful for shorter business trips, which are often the ones where employees would use their own cars.”
Spendlove said the scheme also gives the council flexibility to add or remove vehicles based on utilisation.
He added: “One of the benefits has been the long-term support from Enterprise’s consultants, who have attended and hosted numerous stakeholder meetings, roadshows and other on-site events.
“Partnering with Enterprise has helped us to change employee behaviour so they reduce business mileage and travel more efficiently and sustainably.”
Enterprise Car Club managing director Dan Gursel said: “Dedicated car clubs can help organisations manage business travel costs and provide a level of control that is missing when employees use their own vehicles.
“They can reduce costs, ensure employees drive regularly maintained and properly insured vehicles, and offer a significantly more sustainable transport option.
“By developing policies and processes to make business travel more manageable and environmentally-friendly, Gloucestershire County Council has been able to improve sustainability and local air quality.
“It provides employees with a viable alternative to using their own vehicles for work.”
