ParkWhiz for Android: Daily App Pick

BreakingModern — Whether you’re a tourist visiting a major metropolitan area or a suburbanite arranging a meeting downtown, there is something to be said for local knowledge, especially when it comes to parking. Finding a parking spot for your car that is both convenient and available at a reasonable price is just another hassle that everyone would like to eliminate from their lives. Well, thanks to some clever ingenuity and technical knowhow, the developers of ParkWhiz may have done just that.

ParkWhiz

Find Your Spot

The way ParkWhiz works is rather simple and very familiar to frequent travelers — the app looks for empty parking spaces in a particular area that you have designated and presents the possible choices to you on a map. All you have to do is specify your destination, find the parking spot you want and then reserve it for a particular time. Because you are using your smartphone or mobile device, you can pre-purchase your chosen parking spot and thereby guarantee it will be there when you arrive.

For example, let’s say I’m visiting Washington, D.C., and want to go to the Lincoln Memorial. I would search for the site, specify a date, specify a time and then the app would show me a map of potential parking spots. As you can see, there is a spot available for $20, which is within walking distance. In fact, I can probably squeeze in a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the way to the Lincoln Memorial.

ParkWhiz

Discounts

ParkWhiz does for parking what Priceline does for hotels. ParkWhiz finds unused parking spaces and offers them at a discount because the parking facilities would rather have spots filled and generating revenue at a discount than empty and bringing in no income at all.

And because everything is digital, users don’t have to worry about having the cash on hand when parking, and the facilities don’t have to have attendants waiting in booths to make change. Simple, efficient and nimble — technology at its practical best.

Caveats

However, there is one major drawback with the ParkWhiz system, at least right now. ParkWhiz is not yet available all over the U.S. For example, the app has no partnerships with parking facilities in my hometown of Louisville, KY. If you’re not in an area currently served by ParkWhiz, then the app will not be very helpful. New areas are being added all of the time, though, so check the ParkWhiz website often for updates.

ParkWhiz

Bottom Line

In the overall scheme of things, parking your car does not generally rise to the state of vitally important. However, parking is one of life’s little annoyances. And annoyances are one of the things technology and the mobile lifestyle can help eliminate. ParkWhiz attempts to do this by taking a well-established and successful concept and applying it to finding a discounted parking space. ParkWhiz is free and available for Android on Google Play and Apple iOS.

For BMod, I’m

All screenshots: Mark Kaelin

Featured/Header image credit: © Tomasz Zajda / Dollar Photo Club

Mark Kaelin

Author: Mark Kaelin

Based in Louisville, KY., Mark W. Kaelin is a tech and gadget writer who also covers fine living for us here at BreakingModern.

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