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Silver Spring residents looking to gradually lose their addiction to automobiles should get help soon as the county looks to establish its own shared-car service in several urban areas, specifically downtown.

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation will soon accept bids from private companies to establish a "carshare," a short-term car rental service commonly designed to complement public transportation. The carshare could be available at county-owned parking facilities and streets by the end of the year.

The service would provide incentive for frequent public transit users and commuters not to own a car, but instead use carshare vehicles for trips that other modes of transportation cannot accommodate, said Sandra Brecher, administrator of commuter services for the county DOT.

For instance, if someone can get to his or her job by public transportation but may still need a car for shorter trips during the work day, that person could take transit to work and then used shared cars for the occasional trips, Brecher said.

"The mission in each area is to achieve reductions in drive-alones and increases in use of alternative modes of commuting," Brecher said.

While the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board has pushed the program, it would also be available in heavier-populated areas like downtown Bethesda, North Bethesda, Wheaton and Montgomery Hills.

The county's proposal should be available to private bidders sometime this summer, followed by a 30-day response period. Depending on negotiations, spaces could be available as soon as the end of the year, Brecher said. Carshare spaces would be in county-owned parking garages and lots as well as on streets.

The spaces would be available 24 hours a day and could be reserved online for hourly or daily rates. To start, about six spots would be available in places like Bethesda and Silver Spring; more will be added depending on demand, Brecher said.

An established carshare service would be the long-awaited culmination of about two years of lobbying by the advisory board, which met with transportation officials last week to consult on the proposal it will issue to bidders.

"With the proximity to public transportation, I don't think we need to keep luring people to move into the [central business district] and county bringing their cars along," said board member Evan Glass, president of the South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association.

Glass said his household has one car, used primarily on nights and weekends. If there were more shared cars, "I would get rid of my own vehicle," he said.

One of the most well-known carshares, Zipcar, has 21 available cars at six locations in downtown Silver Spring listed on its Web site, including developments like the Blairs, Lenox Park and Summit Hills. Silver Spring has the most Zipcars in the county, but there are others in Bethesda, Rockville and Takoma Park. The cars are generally compact cars or smaller sport utility vehicles, and rent at about $7 to $12 per hour or about $70 to $90 daily.

Zipcar also offers annual memberships and has partnered with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to provide Zipcars at 39 Metro stations, including Silver Spring, Forest Glen, Bethesda, Rockville, Takoma and Wheaton.

While Zipcar and carshares have their fans, they're not a perfect solution to getting around. South Silver Spring resident Jimmy Obomsawin, who started using Zipcars three years ago and has since gotten rid of his car, used carshares as many as "three to four times a week" until prices increased recently.

"A car is more of a hassle than it's worth," said Obomsawin, who uses Zipcars at times when the Metro isn't running or if he needs to travel to Columbia.

Obomsawin said he used to pay about $3 an hour and about $30 a day for FlexCars, a company that later merged with Zipcar. Brecher said rates for county carshares would be determined during the bidding process.

Nancy Nickell of east Silver Spring said she and her husband have used Zipcars since 2001, and it kept them from needing their own car. But when they began using it several times a month and rental rates increased, it was no longer cost-effective not to have a car, she said.

The Nickells bought a car last year but keep an annual Zipcar membership, stressing carshare's importance as an alternative transit mode.

"We still walk and take transit an awful lot," Nickell said. "Good buses, shared cars and a robust taxi situation: those are all important."