Online community offers peer-to-peer parking network

Peer-to-peer communities are increasingly providing value and convenience to consumers in a wide range of markets, from car-sharing to currency exchange. New online community Park Circa is now bringing the concept to parking, creating public parking spaces in otherwise off-limits driveways. Still in beta, but with plans to expand globally, Park Circa organizes a community of members who are either looking for parking or have parking facilities available. Members can list their driveway parking space as available when it’s not in use — earning cash when someone uses their spot. The payment method works on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ system, whereby drivers top-up credit on their Park Circa account. This is then transferred to the owner of whichever parking space the driver selects, with the hourly rates decided by the spaces’ owners. Members can view available parking spaces and complete payment via the Park Circa mobile app. As with any online rental community, the project will rely on a large membership to succeed, and it will be in direct competition with services such as SpotScout. However, the service is well presented and offers genuine convenience. A critical mass of users could well see Park Circa flourish. Watch this space! (Related: Recycled parking meters collect donations for Montréal’s homeless — Marketplace for long-term parking — Parking & zipping.)