You would be hard pressed to find a Philly business that more people have general good feelings about than Philly Carshare. It is a locally run nonprofit, environmentally friendly, has good cars, and is reasonably priced.

And, one of the cooler things about CarShare was the partnership they have (had?) with the city government- so that city government had to purchase less cars of its own. Instead of buying new cars for the fleet, employees got access to CarShare. And, as a result, millions of dollars were saved and the environment was spared, as city employees simple shared with you and me.

In fact, CarShare is such a win-win that some veryimportantpeople decided to recognize them:

PhillyCarShare’s groundbreaking car-reduction initiative with the City of Philadelphia is among 18 pioneering finalists for Harvard’s prestigious Innovations in American Government Award, the “Oscar” of American government.More than 1,000 forward-thinking programs from across the country submitted applications to compete for the seven final $100,000 prizes.

PhillyCarShare’s project is among “the best and brightest, and represents government’s great capacity for creating positive change and achieving results,” says Gowher Rizvi, Director of Harvard’s Ash Institute. The project “takes a creative approach to a significant problem and demonstrates that [the] solution works.”

PhillyCarShare and the City of Philadelphia teamed in 2004 to create the first system worldwide in which government employees and local residents would share vehicles by the hour in a major car-reduction effort. Advanced technology facilitates easy independent access to vehicles 24/7, automated cost allocation, and unprecedented superb accountability.

The pioneering project has leveraged the City’s elimination of 330 vehicles, saving taxpayers nearly $2 million annually. Philadelphia residents have sold or avoided purchasing another 1,500 vehicles through the program. They drive 9.9 million fewer miles per year; walk, bike, and take transit 37% more; and save about $6 million annually versus owning cars, according to detailed participant surveys. All participants pollute 90% less while driving PhillyCarShare’s hybrid gas-electric vehicles.

The prize money is awarded specifically to support winning programs in the teaching of their model to other jurisdictions. “By celebrating and disseminating this kind of creative thinking at all levels of government, the awards program helps turn innovative ideas into commonly accepted practices,” said Patricia McGinnis, President of the Council for Excellence in Government.

Wow. That is from about two years ago, and sounds like the kind of company we want to encourage in Philly, right?

That is why I am wondering why the City/Mayor's Office gave CarShare a big smack in the mouth, and switched their contract over to Zipcar, a Massachusetts-based, private, for-profit company.

I don't have the exact numbers, but apparently CarShare was underbid for the City work, by something like 10 or 20k a measly 5k per year, and promptly shown the door. Does this make any sense at all? We have a Philadelphia-based company that is clearly doing a really good job, and created a partnership with the City that has saved us millions. CarShare is effectively turning into a public good for City residents, and is precisely the kind of company and innovative thinking we need more of here. And it is a Philadelphia-based company... (And, while I initially thought this was breaking news, this happened a month ago... The things you miss while sitting in Polish hotels. Gotta learn to use the google better.)

And after that, we are going with some out-of-town, national company, instead? To save a very small amount of money? (And, how long will that last anyway?)

Whoever made that decision in the City needs to have their head examined.