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Google Maps Starts Showing Parking Availability For Some Users (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Back in August, Cody found strings in his teardown of Google Maps v9.34 beta that hinted at an upcoming display of parking difficulty. The option may have crept up for some users since then, but now we have our first glance into how the feature will work since it has started showing up for more users on Maps v9.44 beta. Parking availability will be shown as a small rounded P icon next to your route duration estimate when you search for driving directions, followed by more descriptive text. As Cody's teardown showed, there are three levels to look for: Limited, Medium, and Easy. Limited parking will get the P icon to turn red. Once you start driving toward your destination, you can expand the directions to get a more descriptive explanation of the parking situation. Our tipster tells us that according to his tests, parking availability shows up for public destinations like malls and airports and various attractions. The option doesn't seem to be live for everyone on Maps v9.44 beta (APK Mirror link), so you may need to be patient to see it on your phone.
The next step will be that you can "bid" with the app for the remaining empty parking spaces. If your credit card transaction is cleared, the empty spot is now reserved for you, as long as you want . . . and pay.
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This sounds like the Valet Me app from Amazon's short-lived Betas series. Don't you know that the more successful the app becomes, the less useful it is?!?
I'm not sure how long it's been since you last tried to park in San Francisco, but about 5 years ago the city started a program called "SFpark". Basically it's a system where parking meter prices are set dynamically, based on demand. I think the goal is to have the smart meters on each block set prices just high enough so that there is one free space on that block. There's an app that lets you check how much it costs to park in a given place, and there's a cap on the cost.
So if you're parking in an SFpark area, it should virtually always be possible to find a spot, if you need it badly enough to pay the price (up to ~$6/hour).
The land that a parking spot in SF occupies is worth more than the typical car that is parked on it. I imagine it's the same in New York. It's crazy that a society would give this away for free - we don't expect free cars, but for some reason many (most?) people feel entitled to free parking.
Those businesses thank you for making a parking space available for people who don't expect to get everything for free.
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