I probably don’t have to tell you how difficult it is to find street parking in Boston. Leaving your jalopy in a garage can be an expensive task but if you try to park at a meter, there’s the likely chance you’ll end up circling the block so many times it’ll make you dizzy. A new Baltimore-based app called Haystack could be the solution.
Quite simply, Haystack users can alert others in real-time of when they’re leaving a particular parking space. This gives parking space searchers the opportunity to reserve said space for a cool $3. Even more interesting is that if someone has a parking space with no intention to dislodge from it, for the right price you can offer that space to another user for an extended period of time.
Haystack plans on launching in Boston on Tuesday, July 15, at the Liberty Hotel.
But not so fast, Haystack.
As much as Boston is a haven for the startup and innovation community, and Mayor Walsh is dedicated to a thriving tech ecosystem (let a lone a city where parking isn’t as annoying an issue), City Hall is not necessarily convinced of Haystack’s effectiveness.
“The Mayor is always looking at ways to improve parking in Boston,” Kate Norton, Mayor Walsh’s press secretary told BostInno in an email. “We are in active discussions with potential partners who can help people pay parking meters and parking tickets through mobile apps. We encourage innovation, particularly relative to addressing our transportation challenges in Boston.”
The only problem is, though, that Haystack could actually make the city’s parking problem much worse. Should Haystack become popular with Boston’s commuter crowd and demand increase, what’s to stop their rates from skyrocketing?
“Services like Haystack, however, artificially inflate the cost of parking and allow individuals to profit from public space,” added Norton. “Neither of these activities are in line with the City’s effort to keep parking as open and publicly accessible as possible. These spaces are publicly owned, and cannot be privately sold.”
According to the Boston Globe, Haystack, free for both Apple and Android devices, makes its money by taking a $0.75 cut of the $3 price tag for a parking spot while the user who sold the spot retains the remaining $2.25. If a user has a positive balance of $10 or above, at the end of the month that balance will automatically be transferred to the user’s back account.
Innovation by its very definition means change for the better. While some may think that Mayor Walsh’s dismissal of Haystack is a subtle stifling of innovation, his administration views Haystack as a way to perpetuate and expand class divides that in no way pose any benefits to Bostonians at large.
Upon viewing parking regulations as outlined by Massachusetts General Law here and here, it’s unclear what the City of Boston can actually do to combat Haystack.
In the meantime, stay tuned to BostInno for the latest information on the parking app as well as any moves made by the City. Think Haystack is a fantastic, overdue app Boston desperately needs? Agree with Mayor Walsh’s stance that it poses more cons than pros? Leave your thoughts and comments in the comments section below.
Image via Haystack
