Finding a parking spot can be a pain especially when you're out for a movie with your family on a busy weekend. In the melee, you might even end up being late for the show. Now, a Bengaluru-based start up ParkZebra Technologies is trying to ease your parking woes through its vehicle parking app 'ParkZebra'. The app allows a person to search, reserve and pay for parking spots in advance at designated places (business parks or hospitals etc) and malls in a city. Currently launched in Bengaluru, the app will be subsequently launched in Delhi and five other metros in phases.
“The tension of finding a parking place in a metro city on a weekend is always there in the minds of most of the people. Failure to find a proper parking place in a mall can spoil your day. The number of vehicles are on the rise in any metro in the country and parking woes are expected to trouble vehicle owners in the times to come,” says T.N. Pratap, co founder, ParkZebra Technologies Ltd. “The current vehicle population in Bengaluru stands at 67.22 lakh and private vehicles dominate the city’s landscape. There are 46.54 lakh two-wheelers; 13.01 lakh cars; 1.35 lakh taxis and 1.71 lakh auto-rickshaws in the city. This is with a population of a little over one crore. All this will further increase and parking problems will continue in the near future. We feel that there is huge potential in parking near the airport also. We are talking to the the airport authority in Bengaluru so that our app can be used there for airport parking also.”
The user simply has to download the app and then open it in order to find a parking spot nearby or search for a spot in the area needed. After reserving a parking spot, the user must drive the car into the parking place provided. In the case, that the user is required to wait before attaining the spot, a ParkZebra professional will valet park the car and place the key in a predetermined location for the user to pick up. A person has to pay a convenience fees to pre-book his parking space through the app over and above the parking fees. Once the vehicle is parked in a given location one can even extend the number of hours required to park ones vehicle depending on the requirement.
To begin with, in Bengaluru, the company has 10,000 parking spaces on offer. The app also has some additional features to assist in parking, such as it gives users the ability to save multiple vehicle information and also this facility provides the user with the exact GPS location of where their car is parked in order to make it easier to find. It also has a referral system through which free parking hours can be shared and received through referrals with friends and family.
The company has also tied up with Secure Parking, a car parking operations company in order to provide on ground support at various Park Zebra parking locations. At the same time, in Bengaluru, the company has also partnered with some mall managements, business parks and office spaces to provide parking spaces to their customers. It is planning to do the same in other metros also.
