TRANSPORTATION
Sacramento City Council puts a plan in place
The Sacramento City Council passed the city ’ s Fleet Sustainability Policy in 2007 and updated it most recently in 2017 . Designed primarily to improve air quality , the plan mandates an aggressive campaign to incorporate low-emission and zero-emission vehicles into the fleet , stating that at least 50 percent of replacement expenditures be spent on electric and sustainable , fuel-powered vehicles ( such as biodiesel and compressed natural gas ).
Jennifer Venema , the city ’ s sustainability program manager , says the 2017 update established a stronger commitment to zeroemission vehicles , requiring that 75 percent of annual light-duty fleet purchases be ZEV by this year .
“ This updated effort was an important step in the city ’ s efforts and was updated in sync with the city ’ s first Electric Vehicle Strategy , demonstrating our commitment to lead by example through the city fleet ,” Venema says .
The update also established a ZEV First policy for all vehicles and equipment , which authorized Stevens to buy electric vehicles and other ZEV options . “ This helps us establish ZEVs as the baseline decision ,” Venema says , “ requiring justification to deviate from the ZEV choice .”
Stevens says electric vehicles have evolved to where , in most cases , they are a slam dunk even from an economic perspective . “ When I look at our gasoline-powered vehicles versus our new electric vehicles and consider the total cost of ownership , it ’ s incredible ,” he says . “ We ’ re averaging 7.5 cents per mile for our electric vehicles . Our gasoline-powered vehicles , over their ( combined ) 9-million-mile lives , have cost us 24 cents a mile . When we think about the 6 million miles a year we drive as a city , it ’ s a huge savings .”
Stevens says the diesel technology that runs many of the city ’ s trucks and other larger vehicles has also evolved , pointing to an engine manufactured by
“ Sacramento ’ s Fleet Management division is one of the few agencies that has a true council-approved resolution for sustainability . I think it ’ s very clear that our mayors and council members ... wanted to set the right tone and show that we are walking the walk . So they ’ ve been very forward-thinking .”
MARK STEVENS Fleet manager , City of Sacramento
Cummins that powers near-zeroemission vehicles . Again , he says , it was government action that set the evolution in motion . In recent years , he says manufacturers have confronted emissions issues because the federal government mandated that they do so 20 years ago . The filters and urea tanks that scrubbed particulate pollution and nitrous oxide from tailpipes added significant costs to the vehicles but are now the industry standard .
“ Maybe the manufacturers ’ hearts were in the right place ,” Stevens says , “ but sometimes it all comes down to dollars .”
Big data and artificial intelligence
Modern fleet management is as much about management strategies as it is about the physical fleet . These days , new fleet-management tools and technologies are as powerful as the automotive advancements they support .
In June , Stevens deployed a system that incorporates big-data technology and artificial intelligence , which allows his team to access vast amounts of information about the city ’ s fleet . Every vehicle is equipped with sensors , and many with cameras , that feed information to a network that fleet managers can access via a dashboard . This delivers what data scientists call deep visibility .
The new dashboard includes a map , similar to what customers see when waiting for an Uber or Lyft , that displays the location of every fleet vehicle on the road . It shows each vehicle ’ s speed and can map the route it has driven over various periods of time . Another screen on the dashboard tracks each vehicle ’ s fuel use , battery life , energy efficiency and carbon emissions . Stevens says this tool , primarily designed to protect the environment , will save Sacramento a lot of money because it will enable his team to be more efficient .
“ We can look directly into that engine ’ s computer as it ’ s driving down the road ,” he says . “ I can monitor the
50 comstocksmag . com | December 2020