The App That Auctions Off Street Parking Shuts Down For Now

• July 14th 2014

by Lark Turner

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MonkeyParking, the San Francisco-based startup that allows users to auction off public parking spots, has been shut down after the city issued the company a cease-and-desist letter.

The idea, which aimed to let drivers who were leaving a street spot auction it off to another driver in need, was called the app that symbolizes “why everyone hates Silicon Valley.”

In a recent blog, the company said its service was being “temporarily disabled” in San Francisco — the only city where it had been rolled out — so that it could “clarify our value proposition and avoid any future misunderstandings.”

From the post:

“Street parking is currently not a first-come-first-served process, but still a random-served one: you can go in circles for hours while a lucky driver can find a spot in a minute, right in front of you. It is an old and painful problem and we believe that drivers deserve a better solution. Our mission is to get rid of circling the block turning a random parking process into a predictable one, saving people time while also reducing traffic congestion and generated pollution. We want to achieve our mission within the intent and letter of the law and in full cooperation with the local authorities.”

People had accused MonkeyParking of a much less virtuous motive: Profiting off of city property.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/san_franciscos_spot-auctioning_parking_app_monkeyparking_shuts_down/8730.