In an earlier post entitled Big Brother is watching you Park we outlined how city councils throughout Australia are in the process of installing parking sensors that automatically notify parking officers when a car has stayed longer than it should.

In stark contrast to this,  a company in Paris is using similar sensors to help motorists find empty parking spaces.  Paris-based SmartGrains install in-ground sensors  which automatically detect the presence of a vehicle, allowing them to infer whether or not there is a vehicle in a particular spot. The sensors are connected in a wireless radio network, allowing each one to report whenever a parking spot becomes free. Drivers, can then use the free ParkSense iPhone app to see  what parking spots are available nearby.

Australian city councils claim they are not using parking sensors as a revenue generator, but are trying to provide “fairer” parking so that motorists are able to share the available parking spaces better.  If they were serious about this altruistic approach to parking, surely they could use this parking sensor technology for good rather then evil, and implement a similar “available parking spaces ” service to that being provided in Paris.

Find and share parking

Online services like  Google Open Spot which have been around for some time, can help motorists find a place to park, but these services rely on other users notifying the service when a parking spot is free.  Open Spot works by letting people who are leaving parking spots share their spots with people who are searching for parking, however this service  is currently only available in the US, Canada, and the Netherlands and requires Android 2.0 or higher.

Although SpaceOut is currently mainly geared towards long term parking space rental, it is still possible to find short term or daily parking space listings in certain areas.