Ford Motor Company Vehicles and National Parks

Ford Motor Company Vehicles & National Parks
Partnerships Office, National Capital Region
May 24, 2001

The National Park Service requests that the Ford Motor Company and the National Park Foundation place 15 electric pedal-assisted bicycles and three Ford Hybrid Escapes within the parks and regional headquarters of the National Capital Region.

Purposes:
h Test the vehicles and bicycles for the Ford Motor
Company.
Help NPS meet Executive Order #12844 which encourages
Federal agencies to increase the use of alternative fuel vehicles.
Contribute to the Chesapeake Bay Program's efforts to
reduce the amount of air-borne nitrogen in the watershed.
Demonstrate to the public NPS's commitment to improve
the health of the park's fiscal condition through the "Sustainable Practices and Opportunities Plan".

Recipients:
National Capital Parks-Central, Operations: Maintenance & Design. One vehicle will be used for a variety of park management, maintenance and visitor service activities related to seventeen sites in Washington, D.C. The sites to be serviced include the National Mall, Washington Monument, Jefferson and Lincoln and Vietnam Veterans Memorials and Pennsylvania Ave.

George Washington Memorial Parkway, Operations: Maintenance & Design. One vehicle will be used to conduct maintenance and management activities related to seventeen sites along the 32 miles of parkway in Maryland and Virginia. The sites to be serviced include the Arlington House, Great Falls, the Mt. Vernon Memorial Highway and Iwo Jima Memorial.

National Capital Regional Headquarters, Operations: Maintenance & Design. One vehicle will be used by the Chief of Maintenance & Design to visit all fourteen NCR park units on a variety of operations issues. Regular contact with NCR park units will enable the Regional Office to demonstrate the use of this vehicle to all park unit managers.

The electric pedal-assisted bicycles are for the following parks and purposes:

National Capital Regional Headquarters, Operations: Regional Horticulturist. One bicycle will be used to perform services and site inspections on NPS park sites within the District of Columbia including the Tidal Basin, Washington waterfront, Potomac Park and National Mall.

U.S. Park Police, Operations: Bicycles will be used to perform law enforcement and communication services at each of the five community-based sub-stations in the Washington, D.C. area.

C & O Canal National Historic Park, Operations: Maintenance & Design: Nine bicycles will be used by park staff, the Potomac Conservancy and the 250 member "C & O Bike Patrol" to provide various visitor safety, interpretation and law enforcement services along the 184.5 mile corridor in D.C. and Maryland.

Advantages:

Achieve maximum public exposure for these vehicles
within the Nation's Capital region. The parks selected for this partnership are urban and some of the most visited parks in the National Park System. They are also within close proximity to sectors of the public that are interested in energy conservation, air and water quality, public-private partnerships and more efficient transportation.

Team-up with a partner that is committed and experienced
with alternative fuel vehicles and sustainable practices. NCR Office of Operations & Education has more than 20 years of experience with electric, natural gas and ethanol fuel vehicles. NCR has developed partnerships to advance the use of these types of vehicles with the Electric Vehicles Association of the Americas, the Natural Gas Vehicles Coalition, the White House and the Department of Interior.

For further information: Contact Don Filsoof, Chief of Maintenance & Design at (202) 619-7060 or Glenn Eugster, Assistant Regional Director, Partnerships Office at (202) 619-7492 for further information on this proposal.