"As of now, we have 100,000 active users of the vehicles, of whom 5,000 are business customers," Citybee Estonia manager Britta-Liisa Ait, said via a press release Monday.

The fleet has more than doubled from 150 vehicles this time last year, when the company entered the Estonian market, to 350 at present, the company says, with its range covering 13 models from eight makers.

"The marques and models put on the market depend largely on the preferences of our clients," Ait wnet on.

Common makes and marques include Fiat 500s, Peugeot 308s, Toyota Corollas and Nissan Qashqais. Larger vans are also often available, as well as more novelty vehicles such as Soviet-era Ladas.

Some Citybee vehicles sport Lithuanian license plates, indicating where the vehicles had been brought from to meet growing demand.

Using the service involves downloading the Citybee app and adding a payment option. Vehicles in the vicinity can be located via a map with directions and estimated walking time to the car, which is unlocked via the app. Users can get a discount on their next drive by refueling a car using an in-car payment card at a filling station (amount of remaining fuel in a vehicle is also indicated in the app).

Refueling and servicing remains the responsibility of Citybee and the app can be used to make contact regarding issues with the car, accidents etc.

Users must have a valid driving license, and may not terminate a journey in off-limits areas marked on a map. In practise the service suits short-haul drives, and cars are only available for hire within Tallinn city limits, though they can be driven outside the capital.

Citybee says men aged 31-40, and also in the 40-55 age bracket, are the most frequent users, unlike in Latvia and Lithuania where young people tend to be the main customers.

The average time period of a hire is 97 minutes and the average distance traveled is 19 km, the company said, with its cars together traveling almost 4.6 million km in the first half of this year. 

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