About this idea
How many times have you not been able to find an open parking spot on time to attend an important event, meeting, or flight? Well, with Spotter, you will never have to worry about finding parking again. Spotter is a parking solution that helps drivers find open parking spots faster, helps parking ramps get more customers, and improves your parking experience, all while significantly helping the environment. Using data from security cameras, sensors, and existing counting infrastructure, the Spotter app allows drivers to see how many parking spots are open in a particular ramp and the location of available parking spots. The first prototype of the Spotter parking solution was created almost two years ago, and our technology is currently being tested by MobileGR (The City of Grand Rapids’ Parking Department) and Ellis Parking. All a driver needs to do is insert a specific address/final destination and the Spotter app shows the closest available parking spots.
The way drivers park is inefficient. Proof is in the statistics: 30% of urban congestion in the United States is caused by drivers cruising around, trying to find open parking spots. This amounts to around $73 Billion in wasted time, fuel, and emissions annually, with just under 4 Billion hours wasted every year by drivers trying to find open parking. Spotter has the potential to change how drivers park forever, no longer having to drive in circles inside a parking ramp. Spotter can decrease the time, fuel, and emissions it takes for drivers to find an open parking spot, and significantly decrease traffic in cities. Spotter can also help parking ramps get more customers by creating a streamlined parking experience, helping drivers park as efficiently as possible.
Spotter's newest solution uses image recognition and cameras in order to detect open parking spots. Certain parking businesses are interested in seeing a pilot project take place at one of their lots before agreeing to implement Spotter in all their lots. $10,000 would help us greatly by funding these pilot projects. The costs that could be covered by this $10,000 include materials (cameras + electricity + wifi connection on ramps), implementation (the cost associated with installing cameras and connecting to power supply), and servers (Amazon Web Services to store data). $10,000 is the bridge needed to complete the pilot projects that are necessary for Spotter to begin getting its next customers.
