Comment by randallsquared | Hacker News Reader

Comment by randallsquared | Hacker News Reader

People keep using the phrases "the rich" and "the wealthy" in connection with this parking app (I heard this same phrasing on the NPR story about it last night), as though having a smartphone in the US and using it for parking is a sign of wealth.

Firstly, a Virgin Mobile (no contract) Android phone is $30. Gas is well over $3 a gallon near SF. If you can afford to drive a car (even assuming it was given to you and you therefore have no payments), you can definitely afford a smartphone.

Secondly, the company rep was quoted as saying that the highest price ever paid for a spot was $15. Is this is steep price to pay for a couple hours parking? Sure. Is it only for the wealthy? No, I'm thinking not.

The reservation thing is much more of a "jerktech" startup because of the potential harm to the restaurant[1], but the parking startup seems like a win, all considered: people who care more can purchase certainty, and people who don't care as much couldn't be certain of getting a parking spot even before this, so...

[1] though they could just require showing photo ID in the reserved name to effectively combat this, at least for a while.

I see your distinction between the two, and agree that the restaurant app clearly hurts the restaurants. But the parking app hurts every other driver in the city who doesn't take part. I really don't see how using auctions for every parking space is better for the whole than keeping public parking what it is now (public).

$15 worth of $3/gallon gas can take an efficient car a long way - there's a pretty big gap between paying that to travel 100 miles and paying it just to not drive anywhere for a few hours. It makes little difference to the wealthy, but for those who can barely afford to drive as it is it makes the situation even worse.

But that's not the reason it's jerktech, it's because the parking space was already paid for with taxes. What monkey parking's doing isn't much better than brigands setting up in front of a bridge and demanding a toll from anyone who wants to cross it.

(edited for grammar)

Just wanted to chime in to say that in SF if you have a parking permit you can park in some spaces for up to a week until street cleaning. When I had a car I would have gladly paid someone $15 to get a spot on my street on a Thursday knowing I could leave it there until Wednesday. Spots open up all the time but are filled quickly. I'm not defending the app, but there's definitely a (small?) market for something like that here.

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