Gloucestershire green car club reduces council emissions

A Gloucestershire-based council has reduced its road travel emissions by more than four tonnes of CO2 within six months of introducing a green car club for its staff. 

Tewkesbury Borough Council has been working with Enterprise Car Club to deliver a greener hybrid fleet for its staff and estimates that it will make annual carbon savings of around 8.6 tonnes.

The fleet consists of six Enterprise Car Club vehicles including two Ford Fiestas and four hybrid vehicles: a Kia Nero, a Toyota Prius and two Toyota Yaris. 

Curt Craig, general manager for Enterprise West Midlands, said: “Tewkesbury Borough Council was looking for a way to cut its CO2 emissions and reduce its reliance on the grey fleet without reducing vital local services.

"This is a challenge that we are seeing across all local authorities, and the key to addressing this is to go back to the data and figure out what employees actually need to support their travel requirements and decide the most efficient way to provide that transport.

“This is a great example of how we work with local authorities to understand their travel needs and co-operatively develop a strategy to meet those needs in the most efficient manner, both in terms of cost and for the environment.”

All six cars are bookable by the hour or day by council employees and are being used to replace its former ‘grey fleet’ - a practice where employees drive their own cars for business trips and claim mileage expenses. 

Other councils have recently replaced its 'grey fleet' with a green car club.

Council employees now log their journeys on the Enterprise travel firect platform before making a journey to assess which form of travel is most suitable to their needs. 

As well as reducing costs, health and safety risks and carbon emissions, the new travel policy encourages employees to question if a business trip is necessary in the first place.

Enterprise Car Club members can – for both business and personal use – access any of its growing network of more than 1,400 on-street vehicles available for rent 24/7, 365 days of the year, in more than 180 cities, towns and communities across the UK.