House staffers who arrive at work via foot, bus, Metro or train are about to get a new option should they need to run errands or head to a meeting away from Capitol Hill.

Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard is instituting a 90-day pilot program that will bring the vehicle-share companies Flexcar and Zipcar to Capitol Hill.

Four cars - three of them hybrids - are expected to be stationed in the Rayburn House Office Building garage, available for House staff who do not have immediate access to a vehicle during the workday, said Paul Lozito, director of service management for the CAO.

"This is a great alternative if you don't have a car," Beard said, adding that the program could prompt many staffers who currently drive to work to take public transit.

"Their feeling is, 'If I'm caught in the middle of the day here and I need a car, I don't have one,'" Beard said. "This sort of meets that need."

As Flexcar's Ryan Robertson put it: "We're that 'just in case' scenario."

Instituting a car-share program isn't just for convenience-sake - it was among the recommendations made in the CAO's Green the Capitol Initiative to help improve employee transit options and reduce transportation energy use.