PSA-Backed Car-Sharing Business Expands in U.S.

TravelCar, a five-year-old Paris-based company that provides peer-to-peer car-sharing at airports, trains stations and city centers, is adding its third free-parking site in the U.S. with service at Chicago’s O'Hare airport.

TravelCar launched its airport service in the U.S. earlier this year in Los Angeles and San Francisco. France’s PSA Group and insurance provider MAIF invested a combined €15 million ($18 million) in the venture as part of the U.S. rollout.

Members can park for free at the airports—rates at O’Hare run about $17 per day—and rent their vehicles out while they’re away. Rental rates are about half the amount charged by traditional car rental firms. TravelCar plans to expand the free-parking service to 20 other U.S. airports next year.

In addition to the free sites, TravelCar offers discounted parking rates, without peer-to-peer renting, at 50 locations in the U.S. and Canada. The company operates in 50 countries worldwide and plans to expand to 15 new markets in 2018.

TravelCar uses PSA’s Free2Move integrated mobile service platform, which allows users to search, book and manage various transportation providers via a single app. The platform also is used by Zipcar and Daimler’s Car2Go service.