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February 22, 2007
A really bad idea
I'm sure you've heard about this. As a resident of a big city who spends quite a bit of time looking for parking spaces, this concerns me:
Finding a parking spot often requires drivers to summon their inner caveman: Scan the horizon for the target, then bag it before someone else does.
A start-up company is betting it can chip away at that anachronism and transform the search for parking just as eBay changed auctions.
SpotScout hopes to create an online marketplace where drivers armed with mobile phones can not only reserve private spaces in garages and driveways, but also swap public parking spots in real time, with vacant spaces going to the highest bidder.
The article didn't get into specifics, but it seems to hint that people will be able to sell their parking spots on the street to whoever will pay the most money for it. This is dumb from a practical and moral standpoint.
First, I don't know many people who would be willing to sit in their car for five to ten minutes while people bid on the parking spot. When I'm in my car and I'm ready to go, I go. I'm not going to cool my jets while waiting for someone to offer me two bucks for my spot.
Second, who wants to pay for a parking spot on the street? The very reason that people drive around for hours looking for a spot instead of going to a garage is because it's free. George Costanza once compared garages to prostitutes: "why should I pay, when if I apply myself, I can get it for free?" I don't think most people have it in them to get into a bidding war over a parking spot.
Then, of course, is what concerns me the most: it isn't your parking spot to sell. It belongs to everyone. When you leave a parking spot, it's up for grabs. I don't think I have ever seen somebody try to sell a street parking spot to another person. Sell your garage spot, parking lot spot all you want. That's yours. But the street? It's like trying to sell your spot on the lawn at a concert. Eventually somebody's going to come along and kick your ass.
Either way, I think this scheme will die a swift and deserved death soon enough. As the article points out, there aren't enough people using mobile web surfing to get a good mass of users, and people won't want to pay money for a street parking spot.
entry no. 758
Posted by oz115 at February 22, 2007 03:44 PM