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Issue Date: February 4, 2007
AUTOS
Parking relief
Dial a space from your cellphone.
By Laura Daily
Looking for a parking spot? High-tech help is on the way from cellphones, GPS, satellites and the Web.
Let technology help you find an open spot for your car.
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Drivers in U.S. cities soon will have several new ways to find parking without circling the block for hours:
Dial a parking operator. With MobileParking, users can call an 800 number and tell an operator their final destination, then get real-time parking information, such as lot location, directions and exact open spaces. The first call is free; subsequent calls are $1.75 each. The service should be available this summer in the 30 largest U.S. cities.
Reserve spaces online. Berkeley, Calif.-based ParkingCarma will allow drivers in the San Francisco Bay area, Chicago and Boston to call in or go online to use its free parking guidance service (plus parking fees); upgrade to premium services for a one-time fee of $9.90. In some cases, drivers will be able to reserve their spots in advance. The service will be available sometime this year.
Call a matchmaker. A service called SpotScout uses any Web-enabled device to match drivers with spaces. Subscribers key in the location and duration of their parking needs; the system directs them to garages with vacancies, people selling private spots or available on-street spaces. SpotScout will be available in Boston, New York City and San Francisco in early spring.
Use a GPS parking screen in the car. ParkingLink, from the folks who bring you XM Satellite Radio, will link to vehicle navigation screens on the dashboard. The system will test in Washington, D.C., and Chicago this year.
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