Zipcar and the City of Houston launch first-of-its-kind municipal electric vehicle car sharing program

Zipcar, Inc. announced a new partnership with the City of Houston to launch a municipal electric vehicle (EV) fleet sharing program, called Houston Fleet Share. Through this program, 50 existing city-owned fleet vehicles – including 25 Nissan Leaf EVs – will be outfitted
with Zipcar's FastFleet proprietary fleet sharing technology for use by city employees across all departments.

This program is the first of its kind, funded by the State Energy Conservation Office American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (SECO-ARRA) Transportation Program (SEP), and is designed to help the City of Houston improve efficiency, promote sustainability and save money – all without sacrificing employee mobility.

The City of Houston currently has the third largest municipal hybrid fleet in the country, with approximately 50 per cent of the City's nonspecialty, light-duty fleet having been replaced with hybrid vehicles. By deploying Zipcar's FastFleet car sharing platform in these and other vehicles, as well as implementing Zipcar's self-service online reservation and secure vehicle access system, the program is expected to help the City gain new efficiencies, improve utilisation and reduce costs, while further reducing the environmental impacts of their fleet.

"Houston is setting the pace for sustainability efforts, and we are very proud to be working with Zipcar to launch the nation's first-ever municipal EV green fleet sharing program," said Mayor Annise Parker. "Although we've always been known as the oil capital of the world, we're gaining momentum on being the energy capital through programs like Houston Fleet Share and the Houston Drives Electric initiative."

"By utilising Zipcar's technology to make our fleet usage more efficient, we will be able to further reduce emissions and cut back on fleet fuel consumption, helping save money while also having a positive impact on our environment," continued Mayor Parker.

"I would like to applaud Mayor Parker and the City of Houston for all the work they have done to make the city's municipal fleet one of the most sustainable in the country through their dedication to EVs and hybrid vehicles. We're excited to help make this program even more efficient with the addition of Zipcar technology into these vehicles," said Scott Griffith, Zipcar Chairman and CEO. "By utilising Zipcar's FastFleet technology through the new Fleet Share program, the City of Houston joins smart city governments focused on developing solutions to complex transportation challenges."

The City of Houston selected Zipcar as its fleet technology provider through a competitive bidding process.
By using Zipcar's FastFleet technology, the City of Houston will be able to design and configure its fleet footprint in real time for optimal utilization; manage hundreds of critical activities including preventive maintenance, fueling, billing, and fleet distribution; analyze usage and diagnostic data, automatically captured during every trip; and utilise Zipcar's robust, experience-driven analytics to stay on top of trends and in control of its fleet.

Zipcar's FastFleet technology has already been adopted through similar initiatives in Washington, DC, Chicago and Boston. In 2009, Washington, DC became the first city to use Zipcar technology in their fleet, allowing fleet operators to eliminate cars, save money and reduce emissions. DC officials estimate that they save approximately US$ 1-million per year using the technology.

In March 2011, the City of Chicago became the first city in the country to integrate both the use of Zipcar's FastFleet technology in their existing fleet and Z4B (Zipcar for Business), Zipcar's business transportation solution. According to the city's projections, the integrated program could save Chicago hundreds of thousands of dollars in transportation costs over the next several years.

In addition, the City of Boston launched the FleetHub program using Zipcar's FastFleet technology in February 2012, creating an interdepartmental fleet of vehicles for use by city employees. With a focus on fleet modernisation and sustainability, the program will help the City dispose of older, under-utilised vehicles, while helping to modernise the fleet with alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles.

Posted in: Annise Parker,Carsharing,City of Houston,Electric Vehicle,EV,Houston Fleet Share,International,Nissan Leaf,Scott Griffith,Sponsorship/Partnership,Zipcar,Zipcar FastFleet