I am in San Francisco this weekend and I have a rental car. Its one thing to pay $40 a night to use the hotel's vallet parking system. Its another to go driving around the city and not find a single place to park. I am dreading the search and rescue effort it is going to take to find a parking space in this city. Fortunately for me, I have experience on my side and know where all the good parking spots are located. But not everyone does. Enter Streetline. Streetline is a small technology company based here in the Bay Area that has partnered with the city to install "bumps" in 6,000 test parking slots across the city. These bumps have embedded sensors in them and notify parking officials as to whether a parking stall is vacant or occupied. The 6,000 bumps will form a wireless network across the city informing "parking-stalkers" of open spaces. These notifications will eventually come to people on their phones and can notify them when spots open up. According to Donald Shoup, professor of urban planning at UCLA, "It will have a cascade of positive effects on transportation and econony and environment." Check out the NY Times article below.
++Can't Find a Parking Spot? Check Smartphone [NY Times]
I will try to get some pictures of these "bumps" set up around the city while I am here.
Posted by: Garrett | July 12, 2008 at 11:32 AM
I also heard that at some point, they will hold a quickie auction for that space.
Posted by: Kevin D | September 26, 2008 at 04:21 PM