M Focus on: Fleet Service & Management
Clearwater police in a SUV patrol Clearwater Beach. The city aims to switch all of its fleet to alternative fuels. (Shutterstock.com)
Clearwater adopts policy to switch municipal vehicles to alternative fuels By BETH ANNE BRINK-COX | The Municipal
What do you think of when you hear discussions about sustainability? Recycling? Alternate forms of power? Going vegan? More cycling and walking and less driving? With spring approaching and another Earth Day next month, you can’t help but think of better ways to take care of the planet and its occupants, present and future. Where do you begin? In Clearwater, Fla., vehicular traffic is responsible for 38% of citywide emissions. Not comfortable with that statistic, the city of Clearwater decided in August 2021 to adopt a policy aimed at converting 100% of municipal vehicles to alternative fuels by 2040, known as the Green Fleet Policy. Sheridan Boyle is Clearwater’s first sustainability coordinator, hired in 2019. When asked what was involved in the planning of the GFP, she replied, “We relied heavily on nonprofit partners such as the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Electrification Coalition to increase 22 THE MUNICIPAL | MARCH 2022
our knowledge of green fleet planning and gain access to policies from other municipalities. The city also examined the success that the cities of Orlando, Winter Park and Largo have had with incorporating hybrid and electric vehicles into their fleets. A fleet policy from the city of Charlotte, N.C., was used as a model policy for Clearwater’s green fleet policy.” Boyle added, “The desire to shift to a green fleet came about from city staff finding alignment in their goals and pushing forward in creating a policy. The city’s fleet manager has known the industry’s transition to hybrid and electric vehicles was only a matter of time. He looked forward
