Authorizing City Council's Legislative Oversight Committee to hold public hearings on whether the Office of Fleet Management's vehicle purchasing policies should require a preference for the purchase of alternative fuel or hybrid-electric vehicles, which will facilitate savings, reduce fuel consumption, and promote a positive image of Philadelphia as an environmentally-conscious City.

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia’s fleet consists of approximately 6,000 vehicles, including ambulances, fire apparatus, police cars, passenger and cargo vans, jeeps, buses and sedans that use approximately 4.6 million gallons of gasoline and diesel each year; and

WHEREAS, In April 1993, in response to recommendations by Mayor Rendell’s Private Sector Task Force, the City created the Office of Fleet Management to centralize responsibility for the acquisition, assignment, and maintenance of approximately 6,000 City vehicles and pieces of equipment at the lowest long-term cost to Philadelphia taxpayers; and

WHEREAS, Given the rapidly rising cost of gasoline, many cities and towns across the country have implemented fleet management policies to replace conventional vehicles with hybrid-electric or alternative fuel vehicles; and

WHEREAS, Research in alternative fuel and hybrid-electric vehicles was revived in the 1970s due to the 1973 oil embargo. And, after years of pursuing reliable, affordable and practical hybrid-electric vehicles, the first four-door hybrid-electric sedan was introduced to the United States consumer market in 2000; and

WHEREAS, Hybrid-electric vehicles have excellent warranties, lower projected maintenance costs (because the combustion engine receives less wear), and as much as 50 percent lower fuel costs than conventional vehicles; and

WHEREAS, New York City has been purchasing hybrid-electric vehicles since 2001 and have built their hybrid-electric fleet to over 800 vehicles by requiring 80 percent of their light-duty vehicles per fiscal year to be hybrid-electric; and

WHEREAS, Los Angeles’s alternative fuel vehicle purchasing policy has afforded the city with 575 hybrid-electric vehicles, out of their 7,000 vehicle fleet, and has reduced gas consumption by 6 percent from 2003 to 2004; and

WHEREAS, In August 2005

, Governor Ed Rendell launched a pilot program that will add 30 hybrid-electric vehicles to the state's fleet by next year. The number of vehicles purchased will be increased to at least 25 percent of all new passenger vehicles bought for the state by 2011

; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, that authority be given to the Legislative Oversight Committee to hold public hearings on whether the Office of Fleet Management’s vehicle purchasing policies should require a preference for the purchase of alternative fuel or hybrid-electric vehicles, which will facilitate savings, reduce fuel consumption, and promote a positive image of Philadelphia as an environmentally-conscious City.

End