SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – Have you ever been late to a party or a ball game because you can’t find parking? A new app based in San Diego is promising to end the days of circling the block.
In San Diego, parking is somewhat of an art form. There are plenty of lines you have to fit in, colors that can sneak up on you, and of course rules that need to be followed.
Shadrach Vaughn saw the problem as an opportunity. In July he launched Park Connect. It’s an app he calls the “Airbnb for parking.” It’s a web based app that allows users to rent out their parking spaces by the hour, day or even month.
“So we set out to create something that you can rent out your parking space for people that needed it and find affordable parking,” said Vaughn.
The site is in its early stages, but already a number of users have logged on to make money off their spots.
Sarah Ghodsi is a real estate agent with two spots at her Pacific Beach apartment. Instead of watching one spot sit empty, she hopes it stays full. “It’s been pretty successful. I have been able to make $200 so far. I don’t have a great source of active income so I saw this and thought why not get some passive income in my pocket.”
Park Connect so far has more than 450 parking spots listed all over San Diego. If the app becomes successful, it would be the end of circling the block again and again and again.
Park Connect suggest a rate between two and three dollars an hour, but users that register can set their own prices. The site is available on desktop or can be downloaded from your cellphone’s app store.