Haystack CEO Eric Meyer appeared at a Boston City Council hearing Wednesday afternoon to answer questions and provide testimony on his controversial parking app.
Boston became the second city to take on Haystack users when Meyer debuted the app at the Liberty Hotel last month. The app, which – essentially – allows users to sell public parking spots they’re about to vacate to other users, first debuted in Baltimore, Maryland, where it achieved a measure of success.
According to Meyer, Boston quickly emerged as a logical destination for expansion. “If there’s one city in the US that could use Haystack it’s [Boston],” Meyer said at Tuesday’s hearing, paraphrasing suggestions he heard from Baltimore users.
But Haystack’s Boston launch was met with backlash. Twelve days after Boston users could begin selling “information,” City Councilor Frank Baker filed an ordinance that, if passed, will effectively ban Haystack in The Hub.
Wednesday’s hearing provided Meyer the opportunity defend Haystack’s Boston operations, before the City Council votes on the ordinance. Proceedings began with Meyer’s testimony shortly after 1 p.m.
The young CEO questioned the timing of the ordinance, suggesting it was a rushed course of action. Banning Haystack, without fully understanding how the application works, “sends an ominous message” to the Innovation community. Moreover, Meyer suggested, such an act would tell similar, local mobile-app startups: “Thanks, but no thanks. [City Hall] knows how innovation works best.”
Skepticism from the City Councilors centered primarily on two issues with Haystack: 1) The fact that the app allows users to make a profit off publicly-owned spaces; and 2) Public safety concerns.
City Councilor Timothy McCarthy challenged Meyer’s claims that Haystack, first and foremost, is about improving the city’s transportation woes. “This is about a business,” McCarthy told Meyer. “You’re trying to make money.”
McCarthy was also was bullish in regards to potential public safety issues that could arise, if, and when, Haystakers are confronted by a non-user, looking to snag a coveted spot. Altercations, McCarthy said adamantly, and repeatedly “Are going to happen.”
Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Bernard O’Rourke, also in attendance, said public safety remains the BPD’s “biggest concern” with Haystack.
In a follow-up interview with BostInno after the hearing, Meyer called public safety concerns “unfounded.” During the hearing, the CEO said the company had yet to receive any reports of altercations between Haystackers and non-users.
Haystack has about 10,000 registered users, split evenly between Boston and Baltimore, Meyer said during the hearing. Thus far, Meyer said upwards of 1,000 transactions have successfully been completed by users.
Though Meyer suggested banning Haystack would be a blow to innovation in Boston, the City Council seemed unwilling to reposition its stance. Interestingly, the controversial ridesharing app, Uber, when referenced during Tuesday’s hearing, was received positively by City Councilors Matt O’Malley and Josh Zakim.
Both City Councilors freely admitted to requesting Uber rides, despite similar public safety concerns about the app. When Meyer was asked by BostInno about this apparent hypocrisy, he called it “head-scratching.”
Unlike Uber, Haystack has yet to become a public – and media – darling. Meyer didn’t directly answer whether he felt the City Council would be trying to ban Haystack if it had the widespread public support Uber has. However, he admitted, him and his colleagues “haven’t been strategizing” a way to tip the scales, like Uber has, in Haystack’s favor.
BostInno Photos
