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As others point out, this is a typical case of an idea that looks good on paper but in practice is quite useless, since there's no reservation feature. The most

by Jun8 16y ago

As others point out, this is a typical case of an idea that looks good on paper but in practice is quite useless, since there's no reservation feature. The most annoying thing would be to go to a spot shown as empty and finding it already full. That would result in more gas consumption than today's ad hoc method of finding a space.

Niten 16y ago
Plus I'm not sold that the points system will be enough for people to take time to mark free spots when they're just trying to get on with their day. Unless they start saying "you can't keep using this program unless you have a certain number of points," anyway. Now if Google could collect real-time data via automated parking ticket systems, or even by getting access to security camera feeds and doing some image processing, then they'd be in business. I don't know how these systems are typically run, but it might be a smart move for Google to pursue partnerships with popular big-city parking locations for exclusive access to this data, to the extent that it can be collected from current systems.
InclinedPlane 16y ago
I think you may be missing some aspects. First, this is just a trial, they'll get a lot of information about how useful it is and tweak it accordingly. Second, consider the data generated. A little bit of number crunching will generate a lot of highly useful information that can be used independently. Such as a map of all parking areas in the city along with other metadata such as how often there are spaces available, etc. Think about how this can be used. It can be used to provide better driving directions so that you are directed to nearby parking structures instead of the destination itself, when there isn't parking at the destination. It can also be used to figure out where it's best to park based on factors like general location, time of day, day of week, etc.

by Jun8 16y ago

Niten 16y ago

Plus I'm not sold that the points system will be enough for people to take time to mark free spots when they're just trying to get on with their day. Unless they start saying "you can't keep using this program unless you have a certain number of points," anyway. Now if Google could collect real-time data via automated parking ticket systems, or even by getting access to security camera feeds and doing some image processing, then they'd be in business. I don't know how these systems are typically run, but it might be a smart move for Google to pursue partnerships with popular big-city parking locations for exclusive access to this data, to the extent that it can be collected from current systems.

InclinedPlane 16y ago

I think you may be missing some aspects. First, this is just a trial, they'll get a lot of information about how useful it is and tweak it accordingly. Second, consider the data generated. A little bit of number crunching will generate a lot of highly useful information that can be used independently. Such as a map of all parking areas in the city along with other metadata such as how often there are spaces available, etc. Think about how this can be used. It can be used to provide better driving directions so that you are directed to nearby parking structures instead of the destination itself, when there isn't parking at the destination. It can also be used to figure out where it's best to park based on factors like general location, time of day, day of week, etc.