Car Share Permit Program

Denver’s car share permit program allows car share companies to operate in Denver and provide residents and visitors with access to vehicles on-demand for a fee, provided they are registered members with the car share provider.  Denver established its car share permit program in 2013 as a way to increase people’s mobility options and reduce vehicle ownership, parking demand and traffic congestion.

Denver car share program allows for both fixed and free-floating car share operating models.

In the fixed operating model, car share companies purchase permits for dedicated parking spaces in the public right of way. Car share users pick up and return vehicles to these dedicated parking spaces.  As of October 2021, three companies have permitted parking spaces for their car share operations:

  • Colorado CarShare (29 spaces)
  • Zipcar (18 spaces)
  • Fluid TruckShare (4 spaces)
  • Free2Move (233 free floating vehicles. Operations on pause as of 4/30/23)

Denver’s car share permit program also supports the free-floating operating model, providing car share companies the opportunity to purchase area permits that allow users to park more places, including parking at on-street spaces and meters with two hour or greater time limits without payment and in residential parking permit areas.

  • Free2Move launched in 2021 and offered over 200 vehicles until Spring 2023, when it paused its services in Denver.

Permit fees charged to car share operators cover the cost of lost meter revenue and the value of on-street parking, as well as program administration costs.  An evaluation of Denver’s car share program was completed in May 2020 and can be viewed at this link:

2019 Program Assessment and Summary(PDF, 503KB)

Car Share Applicants

The car share permit program allows qualifying car share operators to apply for either a dedicated space permit or vehicle area permit.  Application and permit requirements are as follows:

Application(PDF, 3MB)

Permit Requirements(PDF, 943KB)

2019 Program Assessment and Summary(PDF, 503KB)

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