Flexcar and National Geographic Society Explore Innovative Transportation Solution -- Car-sharing
WASHINGTON--April 21, 2003--National Geographic employees now have a new way to get around town for business meetings, errands and trips. Through an agreement with Flexcar, the nation's largest and oldest provider of a car-sharing services, National Geographic is hosting a brand new 2003 gas/electric Honda Civic Hybrid, and a Honda Element SUV, one of the first of its kind in the DC metro area at its headquarters. These vehicles are available for National Geographic employees, as well as other Flexcar members, on an hourly basis.
Flexcar's innovative and environmentally-friendly program provides individual and business members with access to a fleet of 50 vehicles located throughout the DC Metro area. Members reserve the vehicles for hourly use with Flexcar covering the cost of the car, gas, parking, insurance and maintenance. Members pay an hourly or monthly fee depending on how much they use the service. Members access the cars with a specially coded KeyCard that electronically opens the doors. They then enter a PIN code into a device inside the car to start the car.
NGS has a strong commitment to encouraging employees to leave their car at home, and has traditionally offered perks to those who ride their bikes, carpool or ride Metro to work. However, because many employees need to be "mobile" to conduct daily business, NGS balances these seemingly contradictory goals by offering its employees the Flexcar service. With two Flexcar vehicles on-site, NGS employees have a car at the office without driving into work.
The program at National Geographic is part of Flexcar's business membership program, which helps employers reduce the cost and hassle of providing mobility options for employees. Flexcar offers a range of business options, ranging from shared access to the Flexcar fleet up to the placement of dedicated vehicles onsite. In all cases, Flexcar covers the cost of the vehicle, parking, insurance, gas and maintenance, while the company only pays a monthly fee according to use levels. More information, including a list of all vehicle locations, is available at http://www.flexcar.com/washingtondc.
"We're thrilled that National Geographic has partnered with us for their employee mobility needs," said Tim Vogel, general manager of Flexcar's DC Metro office. "They are clearly a leader in helping address the problems of congestion and pollution."
Flexcar
Headquartered in Seattle, Flexcar now operates car-sharing programs for more than 12,000 members in more than a dozen cities and counties in 5 states and the District of Columbia. With flexible pricing plans, members can reserve and drive any of these cars whenever and wherever they need to, without filling out complicated paperwork, paying for insurance, gas or repairs. Flexcar Business Memberships enable companies to augment or replace their fleet with Flexcar vehicles. Flexcar's modern fleet includes sedans, gas-electric hybrids, electric cars and specialty vehicles including pickups and convertibles. Flexcar has established strategic partnerships with King County (Wash.) Metro Transit, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Parsons Transportation Group, American Honda Motor Company, Inc. and Bristol Bay Native Corporation.