ParkMe Launches Real-Time Solution for Los Angeles County Drivers Who No Longer Need Luck to Find a Parking Spot

ParkMe, the Leading App that Helps Drivers Find the Closest and Cheapest Real-Time Parking, Partners with the Cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica to Ease Drivers’ Parking Frustration

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, ParkMe, a leading provider of dynamic and real-time parking data announced partnerships with the cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica to give motorists a powerful tool for finding available parking in real-time. This will help optimize transportation operations and alleviate the parking woes of Los Angeles County.

“Born and raised in Los Angeles, I have spent years relying on luck to find a parking spot. Now I can use technology”

Through these partnerships, Los Angeles drivers will be able to fully experience ParkMe’s unique real-time parking solution that was developed to help drivers save time and money by finding the closest and cheapest parking available. The app aspires to transform the commute of local residents by sharing real-time hourly rates.

“Born and raised in Los Angeles, I have spent years relying on luck to find a parking spot. Now I can use technology,” said Sam Friedman, CEO and co-founder of ParkMe. “It has been an incredible experience working with the city of Los Angeles to further our mission and provide the best parking solution for drivers, helping them park quickly and more efficiently through intelligent, real-time information.”

Eric Garcetti, 13^th District Councilmember, added, "Circling around for an open spot not only drives people crazy, it can generate up to 30 percent of traffic congestion in busy areas. ParkMe will reduce stress for Angelenos, reduce traffic, and help businesses. Innovative solutions like ParkMe are exactly what we need more of in government."

For Downtown Los Angeles drivers, ParkMe was engaged by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) to help enhance the LA Express Park program. ParkMe is helping to increase the program’s spot-finding abilities by adding all of downtown’s public parking lots and garages to LA Express Park’s real-time parking pricing and availability information. ParkMe communicates information about parking meter pricing and occupancy, hours of operation, methods of payment, and even direct entrance points to garages. Drivers can access this information through the LA Express Park website, ParkMe’s own free iOS app, and www.ParkMe.com. ParkMe is provided information through Xerox’s dynamic pricing service.

“Helping drivers to navigate their myriad of parking options is an invaluable tool to save time and park smarter in Downtown L.A.,” said Dan Mitchell, a senior transportation engineer with LADOT. “Of course, drivers should always use these tools responsibly by safely pulling over, or better yet, checking parking choices before they leave for Downtown.”

Analyzing data and developing a dynamic pricing engine is the first critical step to ensuring the success of LA Express Park, but equally important to changing parking behavior is communicating rates and availability to customers.

Additionally, the city of Santa Monica announced plans to roll out its own app, powered by ParkMe. The app is designed to manage the city’s increasing flow of traffic through intelligent parking. The app will show drivers real-time availability of all parking meters, and display occupancy for the public facilities. This data will also be streamed to ParkMe’s own award-winning application.

Currently, there are millions of drivers accessing parking data directly through ParkMe’s branded mobile apps and through its partnerships with GPS and in-car navigation systems. Now, Santa Monica and Los Angeles, respectively, are offering its drivers connectivity to the ever-changing parking conditions. ParkMe welcomes these municipalities into its network.

ABOUT PARKME

Based in Santa Monica, Calif., ParkMe is the leading provider of parking information to navigation companies and smartphones. Founded by Sam Friedman and Alex Israel, ParkMe’s mission is to make parking easier. ParkMe collects and aggregates data about both on-street and off-street parking and has built the world’s most comprehensive parking database. This includes more than 25,000 worldwide locations in more than 500 cities, 19 countries and three continents. ParkMe’s free app, ParkMe, helps drivers find parking in real-time from their smartphones. ParkMe can be found on Twitter @TheParkMeApp, and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/theparkmeapp.

ABOUT LA EXPRESS PARK/LADOT

LA Express Park is a year-long demonstration project using demand-based parking pricing and real-time parking guidance to reduce traffic congestion and pollution in Downtown Los Angeles. Wireless sensors in each of Downtown’s 6,000 metered parking spaces provide the data for this advanced parking management project, helping drivers to save time and park smarter. The project is being developed in partnership with Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority supported by $15 million in grants from the Federal Highway Administration and $3.5 million in matching city funds. For more information on LA Express Park and to use it visit the project website: www.laexpresspark.org.

ABOUT THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA

The City of Santa Monica operates 13,436 parking spaces in 26 lots and 12 structures in addition to 5,967 single-space, on–street parking meters. Parking Operations is part of the City’s Finance Department and also administers parking permits and parking citation payments. The City’s parking programs actively utilize technology and data to improve parking management tools and enhance customer service. The new Santa Monica Parking – Powered by ParkMe app, coupled with other ongoing efforts, demonstrates how the City is continually working to improve the access and availability of public parking.