The Parking App of the Moment: ParkSwap
For those of us who live or routinely have to drive around crowded city centers and downtown areas, we know just how hectic it can be to find cheap and accessible parking spaces. Prices and the length of parking time allowed can vary wildly from block to block, and for drivers less familiar with the area, parking in the wrong area at the wrong time can quickly lead to receiving a ticket for a parking fine, or worse—an unexpected tow of their vehicle.
Perhaps nowhere is city parking more notorious than New York City. The New York Times has reported that, as recent as January earlier this year, parking problems within the city have increased due to a larger number of citizens owning personal vehicles as well as, “changes made to the streets during the pandemic [that] have cut down on precious parking spots.”
Thankfully, there is now a better and smarter way that drivers can search for and find available parking spaces. Founded by Nicholas Espinosa in September of 2020, during last year’s COVID-19 pandemic, Espinosa’s innovation ParkSwap aims to help NYC’s millions of citizens more easily find available on-street parking spots all from the convenience of their mobile devices.
“New York parking problem has existed for years,” Espinosa tells us, “and while the City has been brainstorming over various ways to try and solve these problems, it has never been accomplished. ParkSwap aims to solve these issues and already has thousands of drivers using it as part of their routine daily commutes, and our user base continues to grow with each passing day.”
According to Espinosa, what makes ParkSwap so unique is its ability which allows users to notify others on the app when they are leaving their on-street parking spots. In this way, the leaving driver can swap out their now-vacant parking spot with another user who can claim it and drive to it without the stress or hassle of having to continue searching for an available parking spot each day, or multiple times each day. Furthermore, ParkSwap users who provide their spot to another user once they leave it also have an opportunity to receive a monetary tip or transaction via the app simply by waiting for the other driver to arrive and claim their spot.
“The entire goal behind ParkSwap is to make life easier for drivers in New York City and other crowded areas where accessible, cheap, and convenient parking is often difficult — if not impossible — to find,” adds Espinosa. “By accomplishing this, ParkSwap can help make our cities more accessible to a larger number of drivers and help make our world more connected through interfacing with other drivers on our app.”
Using a combination of real-time on-street parking information and human connection, ParkSwap aims to help solve the multitude of issues faced by drivers in New York City and other densely-populated cities. Through operating in this way, Espinosa’s innovation seeks to help drivers save both valuable time and money that would otherwise be wasted on gas driving around a city to find available parking, all with the help of other drivers in real-time through the use of one simple button on their smartphone.
To learn more about Nicholas Espinosa or ParkSwap, or to sign up for and invite your friends to start using the app, visit parkswap.com today.