City of Chicago Pens Integrated Fleet Management Service with Zipcar

Chicago became the first city in the country to combine both FastFleet, the fleet sharing technology service from Zipcar, and Zipcar4Business (Z4B), Zipcar's business transportation solution.  The combination of the two services will provide city employees access to both city-owned vehicles through an online reservation system as well as access to Chicago's network of Zipcars.  The integrated strategy is expected to save Chicago hundreds of thousands of dollars in transportation costs over the next several years and marks a step forward for transportation services employed by municipalities.  

Source: FastFleet.net

Both services together will reduce the total vehicle fleet needs of the city.  First, FastFleet installs Zipcar's  technology in the existing city vehicle fleet and launches a secure online reservation platform.  Employees will access vehicles online and make reservations for blocks of time as needed.  

Second, Z4B will give government officials and employees access to Zipcar owned vehicles in Chicago as a supplement for when city-owned cars are already reserved.  The Z4B service adds a cushion to help the city handle peak demands from its users and will allow it to reduce its total fleet.

From Mayor Daley:

"In this new era of efficiency we strive for cost reductions, lean operations and sustainable options without sacrificing services Chicagoans rely on every day. The partnership with the City and Zipcar is a tremendous step in achieving this goal and is another example of our commitment to incorporating environmentally-friendly practices into government operations."

Chicago is not the first city to adopt FastFleet service from Zipcar.  Washington DC began using the service in 2009, and was the first city to hire the service.  In October 2010, New York announced its intention to provide carsharing memberships to Department of Transportation employees.  Coupled with the duress that many municipal budgets are under, the move by Chicago may mark the beginning of a large trend across the country.

Link to original article from PR-USA.net