The federal General Services Agency (GSA) is actively pursuing car-sharing initiatives to help federal agencies reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and optimize vehicle use.

On Nov. 5, the agency issued a request for information seeking innovative ideas from commercial vendors that could help the federal government incorporate car sharing government-wide and reduce the federal fleet over time. GSA will also launch a car-sharing pilot program in Washington, D.C.; Boston; New York City; and Chicago to immediately explore best practices and test how the government can effectively integrate low-cost alternative transportation services.

GSA anticipates that the demand for car sharing in the federal government will increase due to budget constraints and the need to find efficiencies and savings in government operations.

"GSA manages one of the largest federal fleets in the U.S. government. This common-sense approach will help agencies focus their limited resources on their critical mission, rather than fleet services," said Tom Sharpe of GSA's federal acquisition services. "We will be able to test whether it is more cost-effective and beneficial to use a car-sharing service in lieu of taxi cabs, renting, leasing, and/or purchasing a vehicle."

GSA manages more than 200,000 vehicles, one of the largest non-tactical federal fleets in the U.S. government.