Cook County, Ill., and Zipcar Inc. are launching a new sharing program called “Shared Fleet” that brings existing County fleet vehicles into a car sharing network and gives County employees discounts when accessing Zipcar vehicles in the Chicago area.

Through the program, existing County-owned fleet vehicles have been outfitted with Zipcar’s FastFleet technology, which connects vehicles with this technology to a car sharing network and a related web application that Zipcar provides. The overall FastFleet system provides a mix of fleet tracking and management capabilities and gives County employees the ability to reserve County vehicles for business use. County employees will be able to use vehicles in the Shared Fleet program from three locations, a Loop garage, at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, and at the County’s Department of Corrections. As the program expands, additional County-owned vehicles in the program will be stationed at other suburban County facilities.

"With the combined use of the Shared Fleet and Zipcars, our employees will have more efficient access to transportation to conduct their business," said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. "Over time, we'll achieve energy efficiency by having fewer cars on the road. The program will save taxpayers money and conserve the environment."

Other regional government entities working with Zipcar include the City of Chicago, which integrated the company’s FastFleet technology into their existing fleet and began using Zipcar for Business, and the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, which also uses Zipcar for Business.