Enterprise CarShare Coming to Washington This Month

Between Zipcar, Car2Go, a service offered by Hertz, to say nothing of taxi- and sedan-hailing smartphone apps, DC’s market for alternative forms of car transportation is quite crowded. Now, Enterprise, the low-cost rental car company, hopes there’s room for one more.

Enterprise CarShare will launch in the District on Sept. 23, the company said in a press release today. It will start with about 40 cars scattered throughout the city, with the aim of doubling that fleet by November. That’s a long way to go to compete with the likes of Zipcar, which is owned by rental car giant Avis, and Car2Go, which since coming to DC last year has left its sub-compact Smart Cars scattered around town.

But Enterprise CarShare works along the same lines as Zipcar. There’s an annual membership—$40, plus an application fee of $25, though those are being waived during the introductory period—and then hourly rates for car use. The vehicles, also like Zipcar, must be returned to their designated parking spots, unlike Car2Go’s freewheeling park-it-anywhere style.

“Because our car-sharing services are backed by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, we have access to newer, cleaner and well-maintained vehicles and offer a lower member-to-car ratio than any other car rental or car-sharing company,” Enterprise CarShare’s assistant vice president, Ryan Johnson, said in a press release.

Benjamin Freed

Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.