Real-Time Help For Finding Parking Spots Around NYC
I recently connected with Dan who is part of an interesting start-up which harnesses crowdsourcing via Twitter and Texting to help drivers find parking spots around NYC. Hopefully they’ll be able to roll out the service to Manhattan and beyond quickly enough. Enjoy Dan’s contribution today. . .
A cold sweat had started to form on my forehead.
Shortness of breath was coming on quick.
So much time spent circling…spinning almost. I was moving, and all I wanted to do was stop.
No, I wasn’t having a nightmare, just trying to find a parking spot around Park Slope in Brooklyn. Then I heard my phone- probably a text from my girlfriend yelling at me for being late again- and it hit me like an angry meter-maid on an expired meter: all I needed in order to find a spot was a simple text message.
I pulled to the side of the road, ignoring my girlfriend for the moment, and instead sent a text to Roadify’s PAM (ParkingAroundMe), the community-powered parking platform that matches people leaving spots with those (like me) looking to get one. Sure enough, within seconds I was sent a quick list of available spaces, one of which was right down the street.
I could finally breathe again.
No-Park Slope, as residents call it, is considered the worst neighborhood for parking around New York City. On average it takes 27 minutes of circling the block to find a spot, which creates even more congestion on the streets. This leads to more gas usage, time lost, increased air pollution, and inefficient transportation overall.
Roadify offers a simple solution: communication between drivers on the road in the same neighborshood. The way it works is that when a user is heading to their car, they text a GIVE to 95495. Simply text “GIVE” with the cross streets where they are leaving from and roughly when they’ll be leaving (e.g “GIVE 4th st btwn 7/8 ave 5 min.”) The location of that spot is then entered into an online database.
People looking for spots will then simply text “GET” to the same number and are provided with the open spots others just gave.
Users can also GIVE and GET by direct messaging Roadify’s Twitter account: @roadify.
The guys at Roadify wanted to make parking easier for each other in NYC. The system is the first “social transportation” service ever developed and is completely free to users (besides the obvious standard text messaging rates). Roadify was founded upon the belief that neighbors want to help neighbors – all they need is a way to do it. Roadify is one easy way.
There are plans to implement similar programs across the transportation spectrum. Get ready for a solution to late buses: BAM (BusesAroundMe) coming later this month. Users will GIVE and GET more accurate bus information then the rarely-correct MTA schedule.For more information:www.roadify.comand www.twitter.com/roadify
