Jessica Smith, the Mobile GR director, told the commission the DART car‑share pilot launched in October 2024 and has grown from five cars at launch to 10 vehicles today. "We're about 15 months into this program," she said, and described the pilot as "generally successful." She told commissioners the contract began in May 2024 and runs through April 2026 and that the city budgeted $300,000 over three years from the parking fund to underwrite the pilot.

The presentation included program metrics and funding details: staff reported the program is averaging about $88,000 per month in operating costs and that the initial contractor, Mobility Development, has pursued additional grant money on the city's behalf. Smith said a near‑final state grant was routed to the contractor and that the city had applied for a USDOT CFI/NEVI grant of roughly $1.3 million to install additional charging stations; that NEVI award is paused following an administration change and staff are still working through eligibility. "The match money is sitting there," Smith said of the city’s roughly 20 percent match (about $300,000), "but I can't use that funding until we have that question answered."

Commissioners pressed for more granular performance data before deciding on further investment. One asked for profit‑and‑loss and a cost‑per‑mile breakdown; another, speaking as a frequent user, requested booking data that shows how often vehicles need charging and the intervals between charges. The chair also asked for qualitative user stories and testimonials to accompany the numbers when the commission considers continuing investment.

A central point of debate was charging infrastructure. Mayor LeGrande criticized the cost and design of prior grant procurement and advocated for a centralized fast‑charging hub — a DC fast‑charging location that could service a concentrated fleet and also be publicly available. "If we had cars that charge at a decent rate, we could literally recharge the thing in 20 minutes," he said, arguing that faster charging would enable a larger, more reliable fleet. Several commissioners agreed staff should collect and report state‑of‑charge and charging‑interval data to help evaluate whether the pilot can scale with the current vehicle types and infrastructure.

Staff recommended continuing to treat the project as a pilot while gathering the additional operational and financial details requested by the commission. The next procedural steps: staff will provide a written summary and additional utilization and cost data, and will return with possible options for investing in charging infrastructure or altering fleet mix.

The commission did not vote on any funding changes at the meeting.