Council Vehicles
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Council staff making use of
two of the fleet bicycles
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Council’s vehicle fleet is responsible for approximately 10% of the organisations greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts to reduce impacts include the following.
Bicycle Fleet
In 2008 Council introduced a bicycle fleet into its operations to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, provide leadership to the community, demonstrate the benefits of bikes for corporate travel and increase staff opportunities for healthy active transport. Staff can access bicycles at from the main office, depot and wastewater treatment plants.
Passenger Vehicle Fleet
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4 cylinder vehicles in the
staff carpark
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In 2006 Council amended its lease-back agreement for passenger vehicles to encourage vehicle downsizing (i.e. smaller, more fuel efficient cars).
Small and mid-sized vehicle options were improved and cheaper lease fees were established for these cars when compared to the traditional ‘company car’. Diesel passenger vehicles were also listed as an option for lease-back vehicles.
This initiative has proven to be very successful with more than 90% of staff with lease-back vehicles choosing to downsize their vehicle and has been complimented by the decision of Council’s executive staff to downsize their own vehicles.
Hybrid Vehicles
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One of Council’s hybrid
electric cars
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In 2005 Council purchased a mid-sized hybrid fuel sedan for use within council’s passenger vehicle fleet. The initiative sought to provide community leadership on reducing transport related greenhouse gas emissions while ‘testing the water’ on the suitability of hybrid vehicles in a non-metropolitan setting (e.g. servicing down time). The performance of the vehicle exceeded expectations and proved very popular with staff. A second hybrid vehicle was purchased in 2007 and a third was purchased in 2008. In 2009, hybrid vehicles were added to the lease-back vehicles list.
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