Google Maps Starts Showing Parking Availability For Some Users (arstechnica.com) 53
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Back in August, Cody found strings in his teardown of Google Maps v9.34 beta that hinted at an upcoming display of parking difficulty. The option may have crept up for some users since then, but now we have our first glance into how the feature will work since it has started showing up for more users on Maps v9.44 beta. Parking availability will be shown as a small rounded P icon next to your route duration estimate when you search for driving directions, followed by more descriptive text. As Cody's teardown showed, there are three levels to look for: Limited, Medium, and Easy. Limited parking will get the P icon to turn red. Once you start driving toward your destination, you can expand the directions to get a more descriptive explanation of the parking situation. Our tipster tells us that according to his tests, parking availability shows up for public destinations like malls and airports and various attractions. The option doesn't seem to be live for everyone on Maps v9.44 beta (APK Mirror link), so you may need to be patient to see it on your phone.
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It can be actually more safer people doing the right turns, than realising mid-turn they are turning in the wrong direction, and being idiots to the point of trying to correct the situation atm.
Or worse, starting to back away in the motorway/freeway/highway after passing their exit. Because often local signs are idiotically placed to the point that when you see them the damage is done.
GPS/Maps c
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A feature that shows you the parking condition prior to your departure giving you exactly what you want is stupid?
Maybe a little more reading and a little less frothing from the mouth.
all will be Limited soon (Score:2)
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The next step will be that you can "bid" with the app for the remaining empty parking spaces. If your credit card transaction is cleared, the empty spot is now reserved for you, as long as you want . . . and pay.
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They already have that [economist.com].
Information source? (Score:2)
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Some places are impossible. (Score:2)
I have seen places where it is impossible to park. Notably in San Francisco and New York City. It is NOT possible to park anywhere close to where you want to unload your cargo. That's the way it is. Deal with it.
In SF for 1997 ISPCON, I paid to park in a garage and carried heavy boxes a long way to get to the hotel and convention center. There was NO POSSIBLE way I could have parked in front and just carried my gear in. Without losing my car... Or worse.
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I'm not sure how long it's been since you last tried to park in San Francisco, but about 5 years ago the city started a program called "SFpark". Basically it's a system where parking meter prices are set dynamically, based on demand. I think the goal is to have the smart meters on each block set prices just high enough so that there is one free space on that block. There's an app that lets you check how much it costs to park in a given place, and there's a cap on the cost.
So if you're parking in an SFpark a
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Those businesses thank you for making a parking space available for people who don't expect to get everything for free.
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I have too many shopping centers/malls with a 5/10 minutes drive from my house, too many to count without exaggerating. Obviously we choose the ones with better and free parks.
Once in a while, we got to one where we pay for parking, but get two hours for free if we make there the shopping of groceries for the month.
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Because the purpose is to keep a few open spaces on every block, and if a block always has open spaces, then the parking meters aren't necessary.
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SFPark is like an auction for parking spaces. When there are more people who want to park than there are parking spaces (demand > supply), you simply raise the price until enough people decide to go elsewhere that everyone who remains gets a parking space (so demand = supply).
And when you have fewer people who want to park there than there are parking spaces (demand < supply), you lower the price to make it more attractive and bring in customers to the nearby businesses (so demand = supply).
But if tha
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Is this SF's way of making sure that the poor are in shape?
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Re: Some places are impossible. (Score:2)
I live in Europe.
Most cities I know of have no free parking whatsoever in their centers. It's an intentional decision to discourage usage of cars within cities.
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we don't expect free cars, but for some reason many (most?) people feel entitled to free parking.
It's not free parking. Parking is part of the road, and roads are paid for with tax money. We already paid for that parking. Now that we've bought it, we have to lease it by the hour, too? I suppose you think all roads should be toll roads and your bank account is auto-charged for each one you drive on?
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I suppose you think all roads should be toll roads and your bank account is auto-charged for each one you drive on?
Sounds like an awesome idea. It's not a new one, either [wikipedia.org]. Private autos impose enormous external costs on society, amounting to a hefty subsidy for car ownership. There's no reason cars shouldn't pay their way in full.
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Sounds like an awesome idea.
In the presence of a working public transportation system that actually met the needs of inhabitants, it might be. But we have that in maybe one or two cities in the USA, and actually, if you took the cars away the systems couldn't handle the load. Toll roads are harmful to business and individuals alike. We make use of the road network free to enable commerce and free travel.
I am an outspoken proponent of PRT and of ordinary rail for longer distances, but barring their existence, I'm extremely opposed to p
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Sure, let's just repeal the gas tax that already pays for that.
"Valet Me" is here (Score:3)
This sounds like the Valet Me app from Amazon's short-lived Betas series. Don't you know that the more successful the app becomes, the less useful it is?!?
How about an easier target (Score:2)
How about making sure directions are rational?
Sure, it may ~technically~ be a shorter distance to cross the street, but when it can tell the average speed on both sides of the street is 2 mph, each side has 3 lanes plus 1 or 2 turn lanes, and I'm coming from a side street with no light, it should realize that I'm going to be sitting there for an hour until 6-8 good Samaritans show up at exactly the same time to let me across. ... or it could have added 8 seconds, had me take a right onto the crossroad at a
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The Goddess Asphalta beats Google anyday (Score:2)
and screw Karen Stock as we have been praying for parking since the 90's.