Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Looking for a parking spot in Calgary?

Last fall I posted about a UK entrepreneur who set up a web service, ParkAtMyHouse.com, to help sports fans, concert goers and other frazzled consumers save money by renting driveways in which to park their cars while attending major events.

As I said at the time, “It's one of these simple ideas, like Ebay, that matches buyers and sellers with complementary needs but no previous way of identifying each other and building trust.”

Now I'm pleased to announce that a Canadian entrepreneur is launching a similar service to help frazzled motorists in one of Canada’s most car-choked downtowns: Calgary.

Will Kriski e-mailed me yesterday to tell me about his new web service. Parking in Calgary, he says, “is a huge problem not only in availability (6+ month waiting lists) but in cost, too ($400+/month range - one of the highest in Canada).”

I think that’s more than the rent I paid on my whole Calgary apartment (with free parking) a couple of decades back.

“The site is similar to the UK idea but the focus is on monthly parking for people who need to work downtown,” says Will. “People who have homes, condos, apartments, etc., can rent their parking space out.”

Will also hopes this will encourage alternative forms of transportation by helping commuters park near C-train LRT stations or bike paths.

Will’s site includes a rating/review system, Google maps (using AJAX technology) and Digg tags. Plus, it’s free to use, “at this point.” Will says he’s looking at different business models, such as charging per post, selling ads, or offering premium services for commercial clients.

Here’s the site: http://mycalgaryparking.ning.com/
Go to town.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that a few of these sites are going to spring up in a short amount of time. Another site that matches parking seekers with lenders is ParkingHunter, which is another Canadian site.

- Jacob F.

pedro velasquez said...

The other one is driving with a suspended license. Before you could be arrested on your first offense,sportsbook and it was criminal with the same process as if you had no insurance (plus the arrest part). Now, same thing. No right of arrest, no crime, but a civil ciation of $500 that goes right to the registry.
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