Monkey Parking app

[hbelkins]

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/06/24/no-monkeying-around-san-francisco-warns-monkey-app-to-stop-auctioning-off-city/

Anybody following this? San Francisco wants to stop this and similar apps that let people advertise when they are going to be leaving a parking space.

I think this is crazy. You're not selling the parking space. You're selling the information, "A parking space is going to be open in 5 minutes and for $20 I'll tell you where it is."

Once again, the private sector comes up with a good entrepreneurial idea and once again, the government tries to throttle it. Kinda like they are trying to do, under pressure from the taxi lobby, with Lyft and similar services.

[Duke87]

Lyft and the like really ought to be allowed to operate since they aren't hurting anyone. They are unfortunate victims of outdated regulation and a taxi lobby that prevents said regulations from changing because they enjoy their pseudo-monopoly on providing livery services. This is a case of businesses seeking to prevent competition by banning it with regulation, which is bad from a perspective of what best benefits the public. The taxi companies benefit but consumers suffer.


Monkey Parking, on the other hand, San Francisco is right to shut down since it operates on a predatory business model. The app accomplishes basically nothing that is economically productive, all it does is create a racket where people are forced to pay extra money if they want to find a parking space in a timely fashion.

[citrus]

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/06/24/no-monkeying-around-san-francisco-warns-monkey-app-to-stop-auctioning-off-city/
Once again, the private sector comes up with a good entrepreneurial idea and once again, the government tries to throttle it. Kinda like they are trying to do, under pressure from the taxi lobby, with Lyft and similar services.

Well....not in my view. Monkey Parking is only going to lead to fistfights when somebody "sells" a public parking spot but the somebody else beats the "buyer" to the spot. (Which will happen often - in many parts of SF, when a car leaves a parking spot, it's immediately taken by someone driving around looking for parking.)

Wait, just read Duke's post - basically, what he said. If someone wants to pay $$$ for a guaranteed parking spot, the City is littered with private lots that will let them do just that.

[jeffandnicole]

Well....not in my view. Monkey Parking is only going to lead to fistfights when somebody "sells" a public parking spot but the somebody else beats the "buyer" to the spot.

This is more along the lines of what I would expect (well, without the beatdown).  If parking is at that much of a premium, those spots will be empty for seconds at best.  And unless the person was literally coming down the street looking for the spot and sees the driver exiting the vehicle, they'll have no clue which spot was recently vacated.

[hbelkins]

I don't know how the app works, or how the money changes hands (do they use Dogecoin?) but I'd guess the current occupant of the parking spot stays parked there until the prospective occupant arrives and is ready to claim it.

[citrus]

I don't know how the app works, or how the money changes hands (do they use Dogecoin?) but I'd guess the current occupant of the parking spot stays parked there until the prospective occupant arrives and is ready to claim it.

Given that I often see drivers stop and wait, blocking traffic, for 5-10 minutes when somebody enters a parked car, I don't think it's going to work quite that smoothly

[jakeroot]

I don't know how the app works, or how the money changes hands (do they use Dogecoin?) but I'd guess the current occupant of the parking spot stays parked there until the prospective occupant arrives and is ready to claim it.

Given that I often see drivers stop and wait, blocking traffic, for 5-10 minutes when somebody enters a parked car, I don't think it's going to work quite that smoothly

Even if it works, if somebody is waiting for a spot already, I can imagine the situation going down like this (Person 2 is the Monkey Parking user...Person 1 is normal guy waiting)

P1 -- "HEY ASSHOLE, I was waiting for that spot".
P2 -- "Well, you should have reserved that spot on Monkey Parking..it's a free App for the iPh---** Person 1 punches Person 2 in the face **

[1995hoo]

I don't know how the app works, or how the money changes hands (do they use Dogecoin?) but I'd guess the current occupant of the parking spot stays parked there until the prospective occupant arrives and is ready to claim it.

Given that I often see drivers stop and wait, blocking traffic, for 5-10 minutes when somebody enters a parked car, I don't think it's going to work quite that smoothly

Even if it works, if somebody is waiting for a spot already, I can imagine the situation going down like this (Person 2 is the Monkey Parking user...Person 1 is normal guy waiting)

P1 -- "HEY ASSHOLE, I was waiting for that spot".
P2 -- "Well, you should have reserved that spot on Monkey Parking..it's a free App for the iPh---** Person 1 punches Person 2 in the face **

[Mr_Northside]

I think this is crazy. You're not selling the parking space. You're selling the information, "A parking space is going to be open in 5 minutes and for $20 I'll tell you where it is."

Yeah.... I'm not sure what SF could do to stop it, and if it would hold up when challenged.

That said, I agree with other posts that the application of this "app" out in the field might not go very smoothly.

[Laura]

I beta tested an app similar to this in Baltimore called Haystack. It's the exact same concept as Monkey Parking, where you pay for the luxury of knowing that someone is going to be leaving their spot when you pull up. It received a lot of press, some positive and a lot of negative. Whether you're a buyer or a seller, you enter your credit card info and vehicle make/model info into the app. You get charged (or paid) once there is a successful transaction. The seller makes $2.25 off of a $3 spot, and Haystack makes the other 75 cents.

I rarely had any issues with people outside of the app - and I tested it for about 32 hours. Just once did someone yell at me for not giving them a spot. Most of the time, I could discreetly sit in my car without anyone noticing, as long as I did not start the motor. I tested it in three neighborhoods - Fells Point, Canton, Federal Hill. Fells Point was the least effective (in my opinion) because of available garage parking with evening and weekend rates. Canton had the most opposition, but was most successful in spot exchanges. People try not to move their cars ever in Federal Hill, so it worked in the few instances that that happened.