Montgomery County government’s pilot car-sharing program continues to have a tough time attracting employees to use the service, which costs the county almost $20,000 a month.
For most of June, only 10 county employees used the service for a total of 180 hours. In effect, the county paid $110 an hour for the use of 18 rented cars. In April and May, county employees used the service for a total of 291 hours, essentially a $136 hourly rate.
The county pays $1,100 a month per car to Enterprise Rent-a-Car for the hybrid cars, which are available on county property for employees to check out by the hour. The de facto hourly rate the county is paying to rent the cars is about double what it would cost a local limousine service to ferry county employees around.
But it is drawing more users than it did previously. The Examiner first reported on the car-sharing program’s dismal first months: The program was used only once –for five hours — in February; in March, the program was used twice — for four hours. In response to the slow start, the County Council limited the number of cars the county could rent for the program from 28 to 18, but with the go-ahead to add more cars if the program becomes more popular.
The goals of the program, county officials said, are to reduce the county’s carbon emissions by using hybrid cars and to reduce the number of county-owned vehicles. When fully utilized, the program should be a cost-saver, said Millie Souders, chief of the county’s fleet management service. Souders said the county is taking away 54 “under-utilized” vehicles from various county departments by July 1, which will force more employees to use the service.
Additionally, the county is trying to change the mindset of employees accustomed to having their own car, officials said. “We’re going out and promoting it,” Souders said. “I have a staff member who is devoted to going out and training people and trying to get them to sign up.”
“This is a process,” added county spokeswoman Esther Bowring. “You can’t change people’s behavior overnight.”
