The policy, which was created in conjunction with Enterprise, reviewed all aspects of employee mobility and was supported with new travel options to enable employees to find an alternative to reclaiming mileage recharge on a private vehicle.  

Eight on-site hourly rental pool cars sourced through Enterprise Car Club were provided for employees making short journeys, along with Enterprise Rent-A-Car daily hire cars for longer journeys. These have replaced the grey fleet as a less expensive and more environmentally friendly option. 

The policy was created after Enterprise analysed the council’s usage data and was able to segment its employees’ business trips by cost-efficiency, highlighting where hourly rental and daily rental would be most effective. For example, by restricting daily rental to those with journeys of more than 75 miles or eight hours, it has ensured its low-emission car club vehicles are used more regularly.  

The travel policy was changed to focus on safety. Council staff members still using their own vehicles for work first complete a tick box form checking several aspects of vehicle and driver maintenance such as safety, insurance, driving licence, health and fitness and vehicle condition.

The council has also cut its ‘grey fleet’ mileage reimbursement rate from up to 0.65 pence per mile to 0.15 to encourage employees to use the Enterprise Car Club vehicles as well as daily rental to make the most of the potential cost savings and the environmental benefits. 

The eight Enterprise Car Club vehicles are all low-emission and include three electric cars. In the first year of their use, the council has saved £90,000. The initiative has also allowed it to re-introduce a 50% bus subsidy on all four locally operated bus routes. Overall, its transport carbon emissions have been reduced by half, according to the council. 

Alan Asbury, sustainability & energy manager at Aylesbury Vale District Council, said: “Our new travel policy was based on an in-depth understanding of how our drivers behaved and their needs in terms of mobility. Enterprise helped us analyse where, how often and why staff were travelling, which was vital if we wanted them to do it more efficiently. 

“Using a car club has helped us save tens of thousands of pounds, and Enterprise also helped us work with our employees to understand the aims of the programme and demonstrate what we were trying to achieve. It has been highly successful and we’ve now been invited to speak with other public and private sector organisations to show them what we did and how we did it.”