A new iPhone app has created a marketplace for public parking, connecting those vacating a space with those searching for one — for a fee.
Parking Auction launched earlier this week on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The matchmaking service is beta-testing, and the folks behind it hope to expand worldwide, creating communities of relaxed, smartphone-armed parkers.
“If I’m parked on the street and wouldn’t mind moving my car to a spot half a mile away that isn’t residential, I may be happy to give it up to my neighbor that just got home from East Hampton on a Sunday night with two kids in a car she has to unload,†said founder Brian Rosetti. “We think that’s quite a neighborly and valuable service.â€
To be clear, the spaces themselves aren’t for sale, nor is the right to park in it. Drivers are told they must vacate the space if another driver signals they’d like to park there, thereby voiding the transaction. What’s actually for sale information — the knowledge that a space will be opening up soon.
Photo by Alex92287.