No matter how much you consider yourself a die-hard Bostonian, there are a few things that are bound to frustrate you about this city. Maybe it’s the fact that bars close at 2 a.m. Maybe it’s the non-grid layout of the streets and all the one-ways, which can make for tricky driving. But more likely, one of your biggest woes is parking. Whether you’re trying to find a spot in a residential area, or trekking into the city for an event like a Sox game or the Boston Marathon, the only certainty you can have is that it’s going to be a crapshoot finding a place to legally put your car for a few hours.
Luckily, a number of parking apps have been cropping up in the past year or so for parking in Boston, Cambridge and other local areas. And unlike Haystack — which failed to gain any traction after being banned due to legal complications — drivers are actually able to take advantage of these mobile apps to ease the harrowing parking experience.
Here are a few that have attracted our attention lately.
SpotHero
What makes this Chicago-based app distinct is that it reserves spots specifically in garages and lots, and then offers them up to app users, often at up to a 50 percent discounted rate. That makes SpotHero an invaluable parking tool for major events. A SpotHero rep told BostInno that the parking discounts are possible due to the app’s relationship with lot and garage operators, which allows for the aggregation of unused parking inventory. Spots are available by the hour, day and month. To use SpotHero, you just have to download the iPhone or Android app, sign up, select an open spot where you want to park during your desired time period and pay for it. And if you have any questions or issues arise during your experience, SpotHero’s customer service team are on-call to chat.
SPOT
As one of the first parking apps to launch after HayStack was banned, SPOT boasts a key difference that prevented it from meeting the same unfortunate fate: It facilitates a rental agreement using only privately-owned parking spaces. Users can rent spaces for hours, days or even weeks at a time, depending on the agreement they reach with the owners. Best of all, this app — which is billed as the “Airbnb of parking” — can offer cheaper prices than most local parking garages.
Veer
Think of this parking app, which is one of the newest to launch, as a fusion between SPOT and SpotHero. What sets Veer apart is that it takes into account price and proximity, as well as the length of time a driver would park for. Users can search for parking at their destination with one click, see only the three best parking options and compare them. Once they’ve selected a parking garage or lot, they then get immediate turn-by-turn driving directions to get there. The parking location is saved, along with an optional picture and notes to ensure it can be easily found. Users can even track the time they’ve been parked and their current rate on a real-time digital meter.
ParkWise
Developed by Boston-based StreetinfoTech, this free street parking app allows users to locate open spots and as an added bonus, also alerts them about scheduled sweet streeping services in the area, a feature that’s invaluable at this time of year. ParkWise, available for both iOS and Android, provides a map with real-time information about not only open parking spaces but also soon-to-be available spots. Once a user has found somewhere to park, the app notes the location, and then lets them know when street cleaning is taking place there. And by relying on a community-based framework, the app automatically updates other users when a driver approaches a potential parking spot or snags the space. All spots are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, and because the app doesn’t allow users to either hold or sell their parking spot, it’s in compliance with city regulations.
ParkBoston
Back in January, Mayor Marty Walsh made a game-changing announcement during his first address — that the city would be partnering with ParkBoston so that residents could pay for parking meters using their mobile devices in certain communities. As an extra perk, the app also alerts users when their meter is starting to run low. After a successful nine-week pilot in Back Bay, the mayor expanded this effort citywide.
By the end of this summer 2015, more than 8,000 municipal metered spaces will accommodate remote payments via the ParkBoston app. But this will be accomplished in three phases. First, the remaining spaces in the Back Bay and Fenway/Kenmore area are being integrated, followed by Downtown, Beacon Hill, the West End, North End, and Charlestown; and lastly, South Boston, the South End, Mission Hill, Allston, and Brighton.
In addition to allowing for remote payment, these “smart meters” will also track data for City Hall so that officials can better understand the parking problems plaguing the city in general.
Zwayo
Built by a team with three Northeastern grads and one MIT alum, this app just recently launched after a two-month beta in the North End. Zwayo—which now services Back Bay, Downtown, the Theatre District and the North End from 5 to 11 p.m.—is an on-demand parking service that sends an agent to your location who will park your car for you. The company’s uniformed and ID’d agents are carefully vetted to ensure safety, and for extra reassurance, they also have $1 million insurance coverage for the unlikely event that your vehicle is damaged. Eventually, the startup is looking to expand to daytime parking for more areas in Boston and beyond.
TicketZen
Getting a parking ticket is enough of a bummer without the hassle of having to fill out a tedious form or venturing to City Hall for a payment. Fortunately, after conducting a three-month pilot with mobile parking ticket payment solution TicketZen, the City of Boston announced mid-January that it was extending that partnership for another year. That means you can still use the app, available for both iOS and Android devices, to easily pay for your parking tickets. Simply scan the barcode printed on the actual ticket and TicketZen’s technology will automatically complete the transaction.
Image of Boylston Street via Shutterstock. Screenshots via Veer and Zwayo.