Thousands of Seattle drivers turned in their private vehicles for a Car2Go membership in 2015, a trend poised to continue in 2016 as a new provider gears up for service in the city.

According to the Seattle Department of Transportation, 14% of Car2Go members gave up a private vehicle in 2015. Half of those said the availability of free floating car share was part of the reason. That translates to roughly 9,100 private vehicles let go by car share users in 2015, with around 4,500 dropped because owners had access to the Daimler AG-backed service.

The data is also a good sign for BMW, which is nearly ready to launch its re-booted car sharing service in Seattle. BMW is expected to officially launch the Car2Go competitor here soon with testing of the all-electric i3 fleet already underway. UPDATE: BMW also uses non-electric Mini vehicles in its car share fleet, which have recently been spotted around Seattle.

Meanwhile, City Hall has also rolled out a Drive Clean Seattle initiative to improve infrastructure for electric vehicle and electrify the city’s own vehicle fleet.

BMW’s preparations come a year after the Seattle City Council voted to allow three more free-floating car share vendors to join Car2Go. Car2Go currently has 750 vehicles permitted for its service — the maximum allowed by the City for an individual provider. With four vendors, that means Seattle could have up to 3,000 free-floating cars on the road.

As part of the regulations, BMW could have up to 500 vehicles concentrated anywhere in Seattle or 750 that must be accessible citywide, which would need to happen after two years in any event.

Following the release of its 2015 car sharing data, SDOT said the city should open the flood gates to car sharing by removing the operator and permit caps.

Additional vehicles will increase the density of vehicles per service area, make them more easily available, and allow us to extend the service to low-income neighborhoods via city sponsored programs. Research has indicated that shared mobility and transit working together to fill gaps provide connections and support car-light lifestyle.

Launched in Munich in 2011, BMW’s car sharing currently operates in several European cities. After its 2013 launch of U.S. operations in San Francisco, the company closed up shop last year citing insurmountable problems with the city’s parking regulations.

Seattle appears to be ready on the parking front. According to SDOT, car sharing accounted for less than 5% of available parking spaces in business districts and those vehicles often sat idle for less than an hour. SDOT only received one complaint from a neighborhood business district related to Car2Go parking.

Seattle was home to one of the first car sharing services in the U.S. when Flexcar launched in 1999. Zipcar acquired the business in 2006 with a focus on serving Capitol Hill. The non-floating Zipcar has 22 pickup locations around the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Seattle’s bike share network has come under public ownership after City Council members voted in March to bail out the indebted system. The plan authorized a $1.4 million investment to keep Pronto running while reserving another $3.6 million for future expansion of the system next year under a new operator contract.