How to Find Free Parking


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How to Find Free Parking

Free Parking in NYC. We all want it, we all deserve it. So why is it so hard to find? In Manhattan, it's because there are nearly 500,000 cars and trucks coming into Manhattan's CBD every day plus probably another 30,000 car owners who live and park in Manhattan. We estimate there are only about 80,000 street parking spaces and 100,000 garage spaces available below 110^th St. You do the math.

Surely there's a way to identify the vacant, and legal, parking spaces so people can drive directly to them and reduce congestion and pollution, right? Seems simple, but it just hasn't happened quite yet.

There are at least two dozen groups working on this problem, ranging from someone working out of his apartment to a company with $20 million in funding. We have a full list of these companies on our blog. Solutions are falling into two approaches:

CrowdSourcing

This approach relies on drivers telling other drivers when they are leaving a parking space. Users sometimes earn and spend a ‘currency’ to give and get information, usually through a mobile app. When these companies first started, NYC took issue with the legality of the business because these apps were selling a public space - a street parking spot, which is illegal. These apps now focus on buying and selling ‘information’.

These apps work well only if the users are active and willing to stay in a parking space until the ‘purchaser’ shows up. That's a big ask in NYC. Current sites and apps include Roadify, SpotSwitch, StreetParkingNYC, and Parking Auction.

Parking Space Database

These sites and apps simply tell you where there are legal spaces to park on the street, but not if there is a space available. Some apps will show the actual parking signs and others will tell you the text on the signs, but you still have to figure out what the parking regulations mean. A few companies attempt to predict the likelihood of finding parking using algorithms including traffic, events, and weather. The downside to all these apps is that you may have found a legal parking spot but it's full.

Sites and apps with this information include NYC DOT Maps, Park Me, and PrimoSpot.

Streetline is doing the most in this field. The company installs sensors in every parking space to gather real-time occupancy data. These sensors are currently being tested in the Bronx and on Roosevelt Island.

We have a full list of these companies on our blog.

Our latest blog posts are about another NYC taxi fare increase, outsourcing NYC parking meters, NYC's $1million parking space, transferring your Muni-Meter receipt and NYC issuing fewer parking tickets

GREAT MONTHLY PARKING DEALS

	$99 at 117^th St & 1^st Ave, self-park garage, includes tax. Best deal in town!
	$275 at 31^st St & 8^th Ave, outdoor lot, includes tax
	$175-350 at 29^th & 6^th Ave, includes tax, $175 Storage Rate, $350 24/7 access
	$375 at 57^th & 1^st Ave, includes tax, good through 8/31/12
	$450 at 80^th & York, get 6^th month free which makes it $375/month (includes tax)!
	$400 at 24^th & 7^th Ave, includes tax, good through 8/31/12

Brooklyn

$175 at Union Ave near McCarren Park, includes tax, blocks from L/G subway.

Bronx

$75 Concourse Ave at 161^st St & Morris, overnight & weekend parking only, 4 blocks from 4 subway and Yankee Stadium

Request any of these garages here.

Margot Tohn
Publisher

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