After 23 years serving the city of New York, Eric Richardson is retiring from his role as Deputy Chief Fleet Officer for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS).

Richardson's team managed the largest municipal fleet in the United States, with over 30,000 owned and leased vehicles serving various city agencies. Richardson has a passion for fleet safety, promoting and innovating solutions to protect both fleet drivers and other motorists, as well as vulnerable road users. He is a safety champion of the greater fleet industry as a whole.

Two-Plus Decades of Promoting Safety in Public Fleet

Richardson joined public service at DCAS nearly 23 years ago, in October 2001. He initially joined DCAS as an IT professional.

"Eric's rise to Deputy Chief Fleet Officer shows the extraordinary importance that data and fleet systems play in modern fleet management," a recent DCAS newsletter stated.

He played a key role in upgrading the Fleet Management System in 2012 and 2013 to support shared services and fleet consolidation. He was part of the team that worked around the clock to restore fuel availability to the city after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Richardson also helped develop the agency's Fleet Office of Real-Time Tracking (FORT), one of the nation's largest public efforts to live track and monitor vehicles.

DCAS Deputy Commissioner of NYC Chief Fleet Officer Keith Kerman told Automotive Fleet that Richardson also coordinated many safety initiatives including the city's Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) program, adding side guards to trucks in the city's contracted and owned fleet to comply with a 2021 law, implementing telematics devices in fleet vehicles, and adding surround cameras to vehicles.

Promoting Fleet Safety in Public and Commercial Fleets

In addition to safety initiatives within the fleet, Richardson also grew the city's partnerships with several organizations dedicated to fleet safety and clean fuels, including the U.S. DOT Volpe Center, Together for Safer Roads (TSR), Fia Foundation, Transportation Alternatives, Trucking Association of New York, and Families for Safe Streets. 

For many years, Richardson also led NYC DCAS' annual Vision Zero Fleet Safety Forum, which helped push safety efforts as part of the Fleet of the Future initiative in Mayoral Executive Order 53 of 2020. 

“As Deputy Chief Fleet Officer for New York City, Eric Richardson has had a lasting impact on NYC’s fleet program and on fleet safety nationally,” Kerman said.  “Under Eric’s coordination, NYC is on the forefront of important safety innovations with national implications...These initiatives are reducing crashes today in NYC and have broad applicability to public and commercial fleets everywhere...Eric is also a terrific, fun, and dedicated person who cares deeply about the fleet industry, safety, and public service. Eric served NYC for over 20 years. Our loss is the fleet industry’s gain as Eric plans to devote himself to fleet safety issues full time.”

Over the last several years, Richardson has worked closely with TSR, after the city was selected to participate in an initiative dedicated to making the city's fleet vehicles safer, thus leading to safer roads for all users.

"For over two decades, Eric has been a leading voice in road safety, bringing a level of enthusiasm, dedication, expertise and a desire to continually innovate that is truly unmatched," TSR Executive Director Peter Goldwasser told AF. "Together for Safer Roads has had the great fortune to work closely with him over the years, partnering with him on some of the most important road safety issues of the day.  We wish Eric all the best and look forward to continuing to learn from and work with him."

Celebrating Contributions to Fleet Safety

In 2023, Richardson received AF's annual Fleet Safety Award. The award, presented by Automotive Fleet and sponsored by the American Automotive Leasing Association (AALA), is bestowed annually to a fleet or risk manager whose leadership and innovation have enhanced the safety of fleet drivers, their organizations, and the public. 

He dedicated his award to the families of those killed on roadways across America, including in New York City.

"These aren’t just numbers. They are people. They are our community: friends and neighbors, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, grandparents, and grandchildren...This award is meant to recognize achievements, but for me, it is more about them. It is about what actions we have taken in response to and as a result of each tragic loss. And all that we still need to accomplish to ensure as a global community, we never again have to add a name to the list of traffic fatalities," Richardson said in his acceptance speech.

What's Ahead for Richardson

After wrapping up his final days with NYC DCAS, Richardson will focus almost exclusively on being an advisor for road and fleet safety. He will partner with TSR on a number of efforts to connect public and private fleets to share best practices, pilot vehicle technologies, build safety training programs focusing on managers and leaders, and creating special events, webinars, and panels to support these efforts, he told AF.

"I am looking forward taking what I have learned in the public government sector and combining that with a deep desire to combat road tragedies...While the core business of fleet operations and ensuring vehicles are operational will always be important, we have seen particularly over the last 10 years that professional fleets have a unique position to make major transformational change when it comes to sustainability and road safety. We can lead in improving the entire transportation and fleet ecosystem by consistently setting the example and pushing towards bigger goals than just for ourselves," Richardson said.

Richardson said he will continue to work with TSR on changing vehicle design toward promoting and pushing for more high vision truck cabs, a more widespread use of technology for safety speed, and advocating for technology that prevents drivers from operating a vehicle impaired by alcohol or drugs.