I just threw up in my mouth a little. Just what we need, more reasons to have drivers face first in their phone while driving!

http://www.kctv5.com/story/19220894/new ... king-spots

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -

New app helps drivers find parking spots

Posted: Aug 07, 2012 7:39 PM CDT Updated: Aug 07, 2012 7:44 PM CDT By Laura McCallister, Multimedia Producer - email By Stephen Mayer, Multimedia Journalist - bio | email

Downtown may offer a lot to do, but there are not always a lot of parking spots available. Now, a new app may be the answer.

Many have had the following scenario: You are in a rush to catch a concert downtown or are just grabbing some lunch with friends. You're already running late, so the last thing you want to do is worry about finding parking.

Now, a group of local developers is working on a solution and soon there'll be an app for that.

Whether a person prefers to park in a garage or stick to the old-fashioned metered spots, finding parking downtown can be a challenge.

"We were like, ‘Hey, we always want to know where to find a parking spot so why not make it easier for everyone,'" app designer Arynn Nease said.

Nease is one of four local designers and developers who came together to create the app "Where Da Spot." It's still in the early stages, but once it's launched, the app will let drivers search for garage or metered parking and even sort by specific locations, like the Sprint Center, Music Hall or Convention Center.

The app even has a built-in timer to help avoid getting a ticket and a GPS locator to help people find where they parked their car.

"It remembers where you parked as well. So it's convenience in finding it and also remembering where you are," Nease said.

If all goes well, Nease and the team hope to have real-time updates on what spots are open and a feature that helps eliminate searching for pocket change.

"The big idea is that you don't have to carry change anymore. Or if you are in the middle of a lunch meeting or hanging out with friends, you don't have to run to the meter and put more change in. You can actually directly from your phone just pull out your phone and add more time," Nease said.

Nease said the city has been very helpful in supporting their vision. They hope to launch the app within the next couple of weeks.

Developers of "Where Da Spot" said they want the app to be free. They hope to generate revenue through ads and agreements with parking garages downtown.

This app came out of the KCITP run 'Hack The Midwest' hackathon.
http://www.kcitp.com/2012/06/11/hack-th ... e-da-spot/

I really like that they're adding the ability to add more time to your meter from your phone.

They should give some serious thought to interacting with the cities Parking and Transit Commission, and/or the Downtown Council, who are a couple years into solid solutions for parking, etc.....

I assume this would only work on that one stretch of Walnut with the new centralized electronic meter, and not at the standard mechanical meters found everywhere else?

Teen hacker interns with pockets full of quarters.

Why does this make you want to vomit? There's nothing wrong with getting information in the hands of consumers in new and possibly more efficient ways - especially if that new way comes with improvements such as the ability to add time to your meter via mobile.

Even though cars were put on this earth by the devil, they're not going anywhere.

Anything that helps people use the existing parking infrastructure more effectively is a very good thing.

It makes me want to vomit just what I said. People that have problems driving downtown already (joco people) face first in a phone app trying to find a parking spot spells disaster especially with all the one way streets.
That and it doesn't surprise me that there's an app to find parking spots downtown as everyone always says there's no where to park.

Does anyone else think that if you've been downtown more than once or twice, you'd be able to find a spot faster just by driving a block in any direction than pulling over and loading the app on your phone?

Chuck, that makes sense if you have developed an urban awareness.

I'm sure that there is a huge segment of the population that would starve to death in the midst of the garden of eden, because the fruit and veggies are not wrapped in plastic with eat me logos.

The same is true of those venturing from their prepackaged comfort zone into the downtown area.

Yes -- although I wouldn't mind having a passenger looking things up while I'm driving a block in any direction. Multitasking! If the dataset is available, why not use it?

Even in that scenario, I bet the driver finds an open garage before the passenger.

I'm not saying it's completely pointless and the meter-filling thing is pretty cool, I just don't think people will use it once they figure out that it's faster just to drive a block.

I actually don't see people using it anyway. The only people that would know about this or think about installing it already come downtown a lot and know where everything is. Maybe during the Big 12 tournament, that's about the only time it's harder than driving one block to find parking.

the meter refill aspect is great, but seriously, who needs an app to find parking in downtown kc?! i'm not just saying that as a KC development nerd who knows exactly where to park, but it's kind of sad btu hilarious that someone thinks we need this. almost every single block downtown has at least one garage on it, and/or a surface lot, and/or street parking. it is seriously not rocket science. moreover, b/c it's KC, the garage will almost certainly not be full.

indeed, one would think that, unless you are in a "big city" downtown for the first time in your life, that it is pretty easy to figure out the parking situation anywhere. i remember the first time i drove into downtown STL during weekday business hours for a job interview - i was familiar from driving in KC such that i was aware that you basically drive around near your destination and look for a parking garage that does not say "FULL." voila!

what am i missing here? are people really that fucking stupid? i mean, even in chicago or SF or NYC where there are a lot of parking garages but also relatively few vacancies, the format is the same - you drive and look for a space, until you find it. why do you need an app?!

Um, Google maps already has bus stop locations. Wouldn't it be easier to just add a little red P to denote parking locations? And add those P's as destinations in Navigator?

I don't think the goal is to find parking -- I think it's to find free/cheap parking. When there is an event at Sprint Center, someone might want to know where the nearest garage that isn't charging $50 is. Especially if people don't come downtown that often and so don't know where there is likely to be street parking.

Some people do not have a reason to come downtown on a regular basis.

They are still good people.

They are not (necessarily) morons.

This app is not for you, and it's not for a regular Wednesday night, and it's not for neighborhoods away from the Sprint Center. Sometimes the urbaner-than-thou contingent here is awe-inspiring.

haha, sorry, i dont mean to be snooty about it. i literally just don't get it. but hey, if it helps people, and if drivers don't cause accidents while they are using the parking app, then bully for them.

No worries. But we can't simultaneously bag on people from the burbs or wherever for not coming downtown because "there isn't any parking" while simultaneously bagging on the people that have acquired a tool to help them deal with the parking problem they think is real. I don't think someone will have to use it more than a couple of times once they get a level of comfort that there is always parking. It's like Dumbo's feather. But any tool to convince people that downtown is pretty easy is a step in the right direction.

anything that lets people know there's 30,000+ spots downtown.

I work downtown and I still don't know where every spot is.

That's one of the funniest things I've heard in a while. Cheers!