Earthgarage free newsletter
Sign up here for free giveaways,
fuel saving tips and hot new products.
Sign up here for free giveaways,
fuel saving tips and hot new products.
An incredible amount of gas is wasted searching for free parking on the street. Yeah, yeah. We know that "free" parking is not a good thing - meters should be priced at market rates. Most cities have not woken up yet on this idea.
A few services have emerged that help drivers locate a free parking spot or a deal at a parking lot.
BestParking.com is a free parking search engine that steers drivers towards the cheapest and most convenient parking facilities in 30 cities and 79 airports.
CheckParking is the easiest and fastest way to locate nearby parking lots and compare rates while on the go. Say goodbye to endless driving in search of parking and overpaying when cheaper lots are available. With a few clicks, the best parking spot is within reach. Locations and rates for NYC garages as well as locations for garages in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston.
The Green Parking Council (GPC) is a nonprofit organization providing leadership and oversight for the green conversion of parking facilities to sustainable, environmentally responsible assets. GPC is dedicated to expanding green parking practices through developing certification and credentialing programs, open-sourced standards, professional leadership and educational development and training for organizations and individuals in the parking industry.
Roadify gives commuters a way to exchange information with each other to help with parking and public transit through text messaging or Twitter. It currently operates in Park Slope, Brooklyn and intends to cover the rest of New York City soon. ParkingAroundMe lets fellow drivers tell each other about available street parking. BusesAroundMe provides bus riders with free and easily-accessible bus arrival times. By making commuting easier, Roadify saves time, gas and money while promotes cleaner air, alternative fuel, public transit and more efficient transportation.
What if sensors on the street knew exactly which parking spots were free? Your phone could direct you straight to a free space and the city could use that real-time information for dynamic meter pricing, discouraging driving when car traffic is too high. Streetline parking and traffic solutions help cities monitor expired parking, optimize revenue from valuable parking real estate, reduce congestion and driver frustration, make payment by mobile phone easier, allowing customers to spend time shopping with their favorite merchants instead of "feeding the meter" as well as measure and reduce congestion on city streets, for shorter drive times and greener, more livable cities.
The only service matching drivers looking for street parking spaces with those leaving spaces — and the only service that will pay to know when a driver is leaving a space.