There's been a lot of talk about parking in Boston as of late. There's Haystack, which essentially allows people to profit off public parking spaces – to the chagrin of Mayor Marty Walsh's administration – and SPOT, which does the exact same thing only with privately owned spaces. But how does this sound for an innovative parking solution: the Uber of valet parking.
That's how Joe Price, COO and CMO of SpotLight Parking, is referring to his new app. SpotLight Parking allows users to, whether they're out painting the town red or enjoying the tamest of evenings, summon a valet parker who will even wait for your arrival and return your car when you so desire.
Valets won't be available everywhere in the city, though. Users will have to search for specific HotSpots to request service, but they'll surely be in popular, high-volume areas of Boston.
It's simple, effective and not rubbing the City of Boston the wrong way.
In fact, Spotlight Parking is already popular enough to have taken first place in the Fast Pitch Boston Competition hosted by WeWork on Wednesday, giving them the opportunity to compete in the Fast Pitch Finals at Fenway Park on August 6.
Unlike Haystack, Spotlight Parking has a symbiotic relationship with City Hall and hopes to parlay that into a hard launch soon.
Price told BostInno in an email that Spotlight "is working VERY closely with the City of Boston (head of valet in the Department of Transportation) and local businesses to address the traffic issue."
So there you have it, Boston. An on-demand parking service with a launch looming over the horizon that doesn't create any tension between the mayor's office and Boston's innovation community.
What do you think of this 'Uber for valet parking' solution? Would you prefer to use it over Haystack if faced with using either? Leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.
