Philadelphia's Savings in Fleet Management

Philadelphia, seat of the American Revolution, undertook a revolutionary way to cut costs when the city’s government dumped more than 700 cars from its nonemergency fleet and started renting from Zipcar.

Under an entrenched system common in many local governments, cars had been assigned to individual employees, who came to view them as their personal wheels. The vehicles often sat idle during the day, even when other workers on city business needed a ride, then went home at night and on weekends.