A City Council bill to allot some parking spaces for car-sharing companies passed third reading unanimously and was signed into law by Mayor Kirk Caldwell this month.

Bill 24 allows for two types of car-sharing models: dedicated parking stalls in city public parking facilities and free-floating, unreserved stalls for which rental companies buy a decal that allows them to park in a specified area. The decals, unlike the reserved stalls, will allow car-sharing vehicles to park for free in authorized metered stalls for up to 24 hours.

The measure calls for a maximum of 50 reserved parking stalls and 175 decals for unreserved on- and off-street metered stalls within a calendar year. Introduced by Councilman Trevor Ozawa, the bill seeks to reduce the number of cars on the road.

“This is something that is pro-business,” Ozawa said at this month’s Council meeting. “This is creating an industry here that doesn’t exist today.”

Car-sharing companies, defined as those that provide self-service access to a fleet of vehicles to members with or without a reservation, will be charged annual fees of $1,500 per reserved stall or decal plus an additional $20 fee per vehicle.

The companies would need to provide proof of registration with the state and will be required to submit annual reports that include data on how often cars are rented, peak-use periods and locations of where vehicles are distributed. The city Department of Transportation Services is also required to provide an annual report to the Council on its assessment and other data related to the program.

Transportation Services Deputy Director Mark Garrity said the city is “very supportive of car shares as a concept.”

The bill, which was tied up in the Council’s Budget Committee in late April, had garnered support from car companies, including car2go and Zipcar, and residents, several of whom testified that car-share programs provide more accessibility and serve as a component of the public transit system.

“Car sharing will make using public transportation (bike or bus) much more attractive to people and may make the one-car household a viable possibility for families,” said Stephanie Chang, a Kaimuki resident, in her April written testimony. “Because the rail does not go everywhere, car sharing helps people complete their route to their final destination.”

But concerns were raised due to previously proposed rates for reserved stalls versus decals for unreserved stalls, the number of allotted car-share decals, and locations of drop-off points. The bill that passed is among other car-share measures that were deferred in the Council’s Budget Committee — one, also introduced by Ozawa, was held up in early April, and another, originally introduced by former Councilman Breene Harimoto, was deferred in January.

Under Ozawa’s previous bill that did not pass, the pilot program would have allotted a maximum of 50 reserved stalls for an annual $2,500 fee or 80 percent of the average hourly rate for nearby on-street parking meters. For unreserved metered parking, there would have been no more than 250 decals for a $750 fee or a formula that included average hourly rates and hours those rates were in effect. The proposal also called for a 50 percent discount for reserved stalls within 500 feet of a rail station.

Joslyn Bantilan, sales executive at Enterprise, which operates a car-share program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, initially expressed concerns over the different fees for reserved versus unreserved stalls.

“Although reserved stall car sharing and free floating car sharing models differ slightly, they appeal to the same basic customer,” Bantilan wrote in her August testimony. But after fees for both models were changed to the same rates, the final bill “is equitable and establishes a system that does not favor one business model over another, while also providing a fair return to the city and servicing car-share users.”

But Walter Rosenkranz, business development manager at car2go, expressed concern over the fees and the reduction to 175 decals from 250.

Ozawa said at this month’s Council meeting that he will continue to monitor the program.

“It’s being innovative,” Ozawa said. “We’re providing new ideas and new types of transportation to the city and more opportunities as we become more and more of a dense metropolitan (area).”