How to Find Vacant Street Parking Spots

San Francisco is rolling out an intelligent car parking system. 8,200 street parking spaces now have magnetic sensors that are networked to report on which parking spots are occupied and which are currently vacant.

If motorists visit the SFpark website they can view a real-time Google Map of available street parking spaces. Colored lines on the roads on the map show which streets are part of the intelligent parking system scheme. The lines are also color-coded to give an overview of current parking space availability (blue = high availability and red = low). If users click on any of the colored roads they can find out exactly how many parking spaces are available.

As well as showing in real-time the availability of street car parking spaces the map shows the number of spaces available in the city's parking garages. The data is also available in a free app for iPhone and Android phones.

Real-Time Parking on Google Maps

SFpark

The San Francisco Municipal Authority has released a Google Map to help improve car parking in the city. The new map displays real-time information about where parking is available so drivers can quickly find open spaces.

As part of the new initiative San Francisco now periodically adjusts meter pricing to match demand. To help keep car drivers informed about the variable meter prices SFpark displays in real-time current prices.

Roads on the map are color-coded to reflect real-time meter pricing. The darker the shade of green of a road the higher its current pricing. It is also possible to view in real-time the current availability of parking spaces.

City owned parking garages are also displayed on the map. Rates at these garages will now also vary to match real-time demand.

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Find a Parking Spot with Google Maps

Parking in Motion

Parking In Motion’s free iPhone app lets you find, reserve, and pay for parking spots across the US, Canada and Europe and also gives the driver occupancy information in certain locations in real time.

The app has coverage of the US, Canada and Europe with over 20,000 public parking lots enhanced with rates, hours, entrance points, and occupancy information. Using the app it is possible to view on a Google Map all the parking facilities for a location.

Markers on the map show the current occupancy rates at the different parking facilities shown. If you click on a marker you can view details about prices, the opening hours and its phone number.

The app is currently available for the iPhone and Android and Blackberry apps are also in the pipeline.

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