Free parking! (Anxiety-free parking, that is.)

If a test in San Francisco proves successful, your smartphone may soon be the key to simplifying one of the most frustrating aspects of urban life: the never-ending search for an open parking space. Not only is the quest for parking a major source of headaches, it's also a major component of a city's carbon footprint - some estimates pin as much as 50% of the traffic (and gas consumption) in congested areas to drivers circling the block waiting for a space to open up.

San Francisco is developing a new wireless sensor network technology that will flag nearby open spots to anyone with a web-capable smartphone. (Check out this New York Times article for more details.)

Startups like SpotScout and GottaPark are also offering services in select cities to help you find (or sell) available spots. With luck, parking anxiety may someday become just a long-forgotten urban myth.

Jon Zilber

Comments

[Brian Langley]

You should also check out ParkatmyHouse.com (www.parkatmyhouse.com) which has been doing very well in the UK and has now launched in the US in partnership with Zipcar!

[Roger]

Sounds great! HOWEVER, can visualize a dozen cars racing to get the spot as soon as it is broadcast!

Could be hilarious, or DANGEROUS! :)

[Andrew Rollert]

There has been some talk about the testing of wireless sensor network technology in parking spots in San Francisco. The essence is that when a parking spot is empty, the sensor will broadcast that information (to a street sign or website).

I sincerely do not firmly believe in wireless parking sensing hardware. I DO believe in consumers selling their FUTURE time of departure information with a ratings based mobile community marketplace as the optimal solution to finding an on-street parking space.

Below are my reasons why. And I think, the fact that too much money and too many bright minds, including Intel and MIT’s Media Labs, have already tried to make wireless network sensors work, and didn’t, support my beliefs.

1) The mesh network systems are too expensive to implement and maintain.

2) The mesh network systems are too complex and cannot work reliably in the long run.

3) In outdoor, public settings, the hardware is exposed to consistent destruction, inclement weather, and other factors that wouldn’t affect them on private properties, like in parking facilities.

4) The mesh network system only tells drivers when someone has left, which is useless in high demand areas. By the time that info hits a website, the spot would already be filled. (In high-demand areas, how long do you see an empty spot last? I’m pretty sure it’s measured in seconds!)

5) The fact that a space has become available is broadcast to everyone, causing multiple people to go for the same, empty spot. This will just further spread people’s frustration with parking on-street. Comparatively,.. with a consumer content generated marketplace, departure information HAS to be available to everyone but only capitalized upon by the person who is the virtual equivalent to the first come, first serve opportunist if they are the first to buy the info.

The best way for people to find on-street spots is for individuals who already have a space to sell their future departure info to 1 individual on a real-time mobile marketplace. [Please note, the specific details (exact time of future departure, make, model, year, color, and exact address) are withheld until purchase, to avoid the problem of #5 above]. This allows individuals to use the info to their advantage.

After all, we want to make parking LESS frustrating, NOT more.

Andrew
CEO,
SpotScout, Inc.