The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority will allot more parking spaces at its Kiss & Ride lots across the region in order to keep up with the growing popularity of commercial car-sharing companies.

Zipcar, one of the two largest car-sharing companies in the country, will expand its fleet from nine cars at six Metro locations to 48 cars at 29 locations. The additional cars and locations are part of the Cambridge, Mass.-based company’s overall national growth plan, said Matthew Malloy, regional vice president of Zipcar’s Washington operations.

Washington “is one of our fastest growth markets,” Malloy said. “We’re rapidly expanding [to meet that demand].”

Zipcar has about 350 cars total throughout the Washington region.

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WMATA also renewed its partnership with Washington-based Flex-car, which has had a partnership with Metro since 2001. The company has about 200 cars throughout the region, with most of the fleet within a half-mile radius of a Metro stop, and plans to continue expanding its fleet.

kwilmeth@dcexaminer.com