As part of its DriveBoston program, the City of Boston is awarding 40 public parking spaces to Enterprise CarShare, a service of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand and part of the world’s largest car rental company.  

The new municipal 18-month pilot program marks the first time that the service will access public parking in the Boston area. Enterprise – a member of the CarSharing Association – applied to be part of the DriveBoston program in February.

Its Rent-A-Car network has operated in the Boston area since 1989. Three years ago, the company entered the Boston retail “car-sharing” market when it acquired Mint Cars On-Demand. Since then, its fleet and membership have increased more than 300%. 

Enterprise first launched hourly car rentals in the U.S. in 2005, followed by local car-sharing in 2007 as a natural extension of its business rental program. 

Enterprise CarShare now has a retail presence in several major markets including Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, Toronto and Washington, DC. In total, the service is available in more than 35 U.S. states, Canada and the UK, and offered through more than 100 university campuses and hundreds of business and government accounts across the country.

DriveBoston is the city’s program to provide parking spaces in municipal lots and on city streets for “car-share” vehicles. In its pilot phase, 80 spaces will be distributed throughout the city. It starts this fall and will last 18 months.

[Sources: Enterprise, Enterprise CarShare, City of Boston]