Mayor Bob McCarthy Identifies Transportation Solution by Repurposing Underutilized Car Share Vehicles Back into City Fleet

Mayor Bob McCarthy Identifies Transportation Solution by Repurposing Underutilized Car Share Vehicles Back into City Fleet

Fleet of City Owned Cars Previously Included In Getaround Service to be Repurposed Into City Departments, Including CIU Police and Traffic

SALEM, MA – Mayor Robert “Bob” McCarthy has allowed the contractual services with car-share provider Getaround to expire in April 2023, which was a data-driven decision based on low usage and high liability costs. The reshuffling of vehicle inventory will benefit city departments including the Community Impact Unit (CIU) from Salem Police Department, as well as Traffic and Parking for additional enforcement for residential permit parking assistance.

“As we continue to work on a balanced budget for the next fiscal year, we were able to identify a creative solution to our city’s fleet management needs,” said Salem Mayor Bob McCarthy. “Upon reviewing our contract and related usage data, it was clear that the Getaround service was underutilized and had costly liability terms attached, too. By repurposing these cars into our city’s inventory, we will be able to save tens of thousands of dollars that would otherwise be taken out of the budget to replace our aging municipal vehicles.”

The City of Salem originally leased and then purchased ten vehicles in 2020, which the City made available for lower-cost rental to the public through an app experience via Getaround. While officials believe the efforts represented a worthwhile attempt at alternative transportation, the data strongly indicates there was little utilization. Since May of 2021, the vehicles have had a combined total of forty-five bookings bringing in approximately $3,200.00 in revenue. The city’s insurance carrier also required Salem to gain additional coverage on the vehicles because of the ride-share option for approximately $50,000.00 of coverage.

According to David Kucharsky, Director of Traffic & Parking, the Getaround program overall only had 0.07 bookings per day, or a booking once every roughly 15 days. If you do not include the multiple hiatuses the program took on due to liability and other fleet management needs, there were only 0.13 bookings per day, or a booking once every 7.3 days.

Currently, the Administration is evaluating how these vehicles could be repurposed amongst the various departments – including Salem Police CIU and Parking teams confirmed to benefit – all of which have aging vehicles or need vehicles for inspections, site visits, or related city needs. As such, the City is now anticipating a lower capital request line item to help support a more balanced municipal budget.

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