Uber’s Impact On Parking Apps

Apps, by their very nature, are designed to make consumers’ lives easier. But sometimes, technology doesn’t always win out.

Like in the case of parking apps that rolled out in the bustling streets of Baltimore, San Francisco and beyond — a subject that was featured in a recent New York Times article.

The apps helped show where parking was so drivers could see where parking supply was high and where they could get the best spots in the city. Drivers were able to bid for parking spaces as they became available, and drivers were incentivized to move because they could “build credit” by “selling that spot.”

And while the need for a solution to parking woes was not in question (The Times cited a study that said motorists in New York’s Upper West Side traveled 366,000 miles per year seeking street parking), the ethical nature of the apps caused some friction in the markets they sought to serve. The apps that were designed to fix a problem, were actually creating another problem — they didn’t own those spots that they were “selling.” MonkeyParking and Haystack were two apps that The Times noted that were quickly yanked out of cities like New York City and Boston. MonkeyParking, Sweetch and ParkModo were three other apps that were banned in San Francisco.

And the app developers, as anyone could imagine, weren’t so happy.

“Cutting innovation off at the knees does not do any good for anyone,” said Eric Meyer, the inventor of Haystack.

The loophole that other app designers have found has been focusing on apps that offer valet parking on demand. This is being done by Silicon Valley developers who have created apps that hire an agent to take their car away until it’s needed by the owner again. It’s like the Uber for valet parking.

The app featured in the article was Zirx — an app that is available in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Washington and Brooklyn — which this April raised $30 million in financing. But its CEO Sean Behr noted that the experience is not “magic,” saying that the Uber experience isn’t either. But both solve problems that people have: taking time to hail a spot or taking time to hail a cab. Zirx currently has around 300 valet drivers, with some making as much as $30 an hour.

While parking apps and valet apps point to a problem that doesn’t seem to have the perfect solution, that’s just the tip of the app iceberg looking to join the market. Next could be things like smart meters that change pricing of a specific spot based on demand of the area, which was pointed out by Donald Shoup, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles who wrote “The High Cost of Free Parking.”

Clearly, there’s a lot at stake when it comes to developing the next big thing in parking and transportation apps.

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