Photo courtesy of car2go

Car-sharing continues to expand in D.C., and newcomer car2go is seeing consistent growth in use and membership.

At a hearing today in the D.C. Council, David Trebing, Daimler’s General Manager for State and Local Relations, reported that the use of the company’s car-sharing service had reached over 6,000 trips per week, up from 4,200 weekly trips in the first three months that the recognizable blue and white Smart cars became available in D.C.

Katie Stafford, the company’s spokeswoman, said that the jump in use was attributed to the addition of 100 cars to the 200-car fleet in July. At the time, she said, car2go had 8,500 members in D.C., but that number has since grown.

“D.C. is doing phenomenally,” said Stafford, adding that only Calgary gained more members more quickly of the 15 cities across the world that have car2go. (Calgary has no other car-sharing options, she noted.) She said that the company was continually evaluating whether to add more cars in the city.

As for the uses of the cars, Stafford said D.C. members were much like those across the world: on average, most trips taken with the cars, which charge by the minutes, lasted 30 minutes and covered between five and 10 miles. “Short-term car-sharing it working, it’s what people want,” she said.

I’m an avid user, but have come across two issues with car2go. Just like Capital Bikeshare has its “dock-blocking”—when someone takes the last dock in a station just as you’re approaching—car2go has the “car2gone” problem, when one person only narrowly beats another to an available car. Also, there’s the “car2broke” challenge: the 38 cents per minute charge can add up really quickly.

Zipcar remains the dominant car-sharing force in the area, though, with some 60,000 members and 800 cars.