Take-home city cars racking up miles

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - The 22News I-Team is continuing its investigation into take home city vehicles by examining how far these vehicles are going everyday after work.

In total, the city of Springfield spends more than $1 million repairing all vehicles -- that's the entire fleet, with the exception of fire and police cars.

So it is relevant how far these take home vehicles travel for the work commute. The more wear and tear on the cars, the more tax dollars are spent to fix them.

Here's a breakdown on where these cars go every night:

Assessor's Office - Three take home cars. Two workers live in Springfield, while one comes from Wilbraham, which is about 20 miles round trip.

Department of Public Works  - 22 take home cars. Using their Tapley Street headquarters to calculate distance, one car going to Westfield is putting 30 miles a day and another car going to Palmer puts on about 40 miles a day.

Fire Department  - 17 employees take home cars each day. Many of them stay in Springfield, while two travel more than 40 miles a day for their commute.

Housing Department - 11 of the 12 cars stay within city limits every night, with one traveling to East Longmeadow.

Health and Human Services - Two employees get a car. Both live in the city.

Thomas J O’Connor Animal Control - Three take home cars, but they also all stay within Springfield at night.

Police Department  - 13 vehicles go home each night. More than half stay in the city, with six cars traveling each more than 20 miles a day for the commute.

Parks and Recreation Department - Three cars go home, with the vast majority staying within Springfield. One vehicle travels about 30 miles to Westfield every night, and another vehicle travels a whopping 50 miles a day to Monson and back.

Facilities Division - Seven take-home cars, with one car going to Ludlow traveling about 16 miles a day for the commute.