The city of Detroit has launched a new ParkDetroit mobile app for parking spaces in the city’s central business district and surrounding neighborhoods that adds multiple new features.
The updated app — which will not update automatically, meaning current users will have to delete the existing app and download the new one — “will depart from the original in every conceivable aspect, both in terms of functionality and capability,” the city said in a news release.
Users will have the ability to check parking availability in public and private garages, lots and on-street metered spaces, as well as compare pricing in parking venues.
Additionally, users of the new app will be able to prepay for their parking in garages and some off-street lots. The app also seeks to integrate Detroit’s various events into the functionality, giving users the ability to check for available parking using the name of the event or venue in which the event is taking place.
“It’s important for us to match our world class city with a world class parking app,” Keith Hutchings, director of the city’s municipal parking department, said in the release. “The improvements to our ParkDetroit app will make it a one-of-a-kind system unlike anything else in the country. We must continue to push the envelope to ensure today’s sophisticated consumers have the means to make their lives easier, and we believe the revised ParkDetroit app does that.”
The updated app was developed by Flowbird, a European parking technology company, which was paid nearly $314,000 for the work, according to a spokesperson.
The Thursday launch of the updated ParkDetroit app accounts for the first of a series of upgrades scheduled for the first half of 2022, including the addition of “multi-modal transportation options” and discount programs for businesses.
The release states that officials with the city “anticipate the new app will improve congestion by cutting down on visitors driving around looking for a parking space. They also expect that it will drive business activity among city retailers and businesses, as well as enhance the overall experience of visiting downtown.”