NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—The New Brunswick Parking Authority (NBPA) has expanded their partnership with Enterprise CarShare, offering vehicles at two new locations on city streets.

The service is provided by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, a national company based in Clayton, Missouri.  In densely-populated urban areas like New Brunswick, car-sharing has increasingly become a transportation trend.

This program is available in 29 cities within the U.S., and allows people to rent a vehicle by the hour, the day, overnight, or for the weekend.

Enterprise CarShare vehicles can be found parked at four locations in New Brunswick, and are accessible 24/7.

“We’re pleased to be able to expand our partnership with Enterprise to bring more CarShare vehicles to the City of New Brunswick,” says Executive Director of the New Brunswick Parking Authority, Mitch Karon.

“This service provides another level of convenience for the network of customers that we service daily in our community.”

CarShare Vehicles are located at the corner of College Avenue and Bartlett Street, the corner of College Avenue and Stone Street, as well as in the Wellness Center and Gateway parking garages, and in the garage of a private residential development at 205 Easton Avenue.

In order to participate, one must become a member. New Brunswick residents with a valid driver’s license can join the membership program at www.EnterpriseCarShare.com.

Membership is $10 a month, and hourly driving rates are $6.  The Enterprise CarShare app, available on iPhone and Android devices, can locate vehicles nearby and make immediate reservations.

The cost includes gas, physical damage, liability protection and up to 180 miles per day.

In recent years, New Brunswick has implemented and encouraged the use of alternative transportation methods, including the recent addition of bike lanes in may parts of the city.

Car-sharing is another method of reducing parking demands in the city, where spots come at a premium due to the presence of Rutgers and the two major hospitals in the same area.

According to research conducted by the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at University of California-Berkeley,” as of January 2014, 24 U.S. car sharing programs claimed 1,228,573 members sharing 17,179 vehicles.

Research shows that less private car ownership can lead to fewer vehicles on the road, more parking spaces, decrease traffic congestion, and cut down on carbon emissions that further climate change.

Academic research titled “Greenhouse Gas Emission Impacts of Car Sharing in North America” concludes that car sharing results in an overall reduction in annual harmful car pollutant emissions.