I refuse to believe that the impact to our lives of all technological advances we have experienced in recent years are limited to enable us send jokes and memes Julio Iglesias from the bathroom, or photograph us with our Mobile using a stick as a pole. What about those situations that irritate us so much from day to day? How can we use technology we have in our hands to prevent them? Still is possible to drive to the city center and find parking without the stress of being late for an appointment, and clock spend 30 minutes looking for a place to leave our car without to pay the same price that would have cost a daily menu for three people?
Is there still a possibility not take half an hour looking for parking?
A good tip is to leave the car outside the city center and use public transportation.
Let’s start from the concrete base: generally are most recommended methods to reach the center of a city that private car use . That is a fact. If we also live on the edge, we must be aware that in big cities like Madrid and Barcelona, there are park and ride, esplanades where we can park our car and reach the city center taking advantage of the railway network, subway or bus lines . It is recommended as an option as any other, but the only, especially if what you want is not exclusively reach our destination by car.
If we insist on this option, that of using our car, it is still recommended leverage our expertise to find out what times are best suited to reach the center, which pathways are more saturated, and what alternatives we have . If we lack this information, or even enjoying it, we always have recourse to applications navigation GPS , either integrated in the car, or on your mobile phone (some of which are free) that offer us the most accurate information about trafficking.
In Madrid, the parking is priced depending on the area and our car emissions.
is the time to get to our destination, and with it we have a new dilemma, parking meters, parking, where can I park? In some Spanish cities, including Madrid, have introduced parking meters They base their pricing on parameters such as congestion in the area, or the emissions of our car. So park in a neighborhood outside the peak , and do it with a low-emission vehicle, for example a hybrid can save money when paying for parking meters. These next-generation systems and allowed card payment , in some cases payments from the mobile phone, which makes not carry loose change in your pocket is not an excuse, and manage our discount or our surcharge for using a polluting car, entering the vehicle registration.
Another option we have in our hands is that of to use a private parking . Prior to park our car, it is important to be clear about the location of parking, but especially to know the rates and conditions to avoid surprises. In cities like Madrid are very common valet parking . These are facilities where the saturation of vehicles is so high that the car park is used in several rows to maximize the use of space, so we have to leave the keys to those responsible for parking so that they move our car if necessary. We understand that there are drivers that have certain qualms about leaving the car and keys in the hands of a stranger.
Technology is a great ally to park in town is not a headache.
After some exorbitant bill, have lost some parking ticket, and other uncomfortable situations, like having to find an ATM at dawn to make money and pay at a parking lot that did not have a payment terminal and did not accept debit cards credit, I discovered that all these problems could be solved using a mobile application . I liked the idea. After all, long and reserve taxis, I do the grocery shopping, and even ask for food at home, using my cell phone.
That’s when I started to use applications like BePark , which allowed me to find a parking associated, plot my route through the browser GPS to him, and know the rates to take no surprises later . This application allowed me even without ticket, since the opening of the barrier to entry and exit practiced by a code introduced in our mobile phone. It also allowed me pay immediately, from your mobile phone , without taking the credit card portfolio, or carry loose change in their pockets.
The collaborative economy also comes to parking options as Wazypark.
In recent years, the development of applications and new ideas arising from the collaborative economy, have led to the proliferation of different applications Wazypark, allowing us share the parking that we will leave with other drivers , and even the benefit – which may conflict with some ethical principles. – to receive financial compensation in return
other initiatives such as llollo, offering There have also been requesting a parking in such a central and complicated areas as Atocha and the Salamanca district in Madrid, so this park our car in their own parking, and return it to us in the same place when we want to leave. So we not have to be looking for parking , or even find a parking closer to our date. The most interesting is that their rates, from 15 € / day, are really competitive with the rates of car parks in the area.
His philosophy is very similar to other services that often I used to catch a plane at the airport. There is life beyond the parking terminals , which generally provides exorbitant rates. In the vicinity of the airport there are different parking low cost and long stay, also in the main stations of the big cities, car parks that offer very low prices compared to the official parking terminal. Turning to the “parking” of llollo, for years they have also become popular services companies that collect our car at the terminal , the park in certain parking are just a few kilometers from the terminal, and they bring us back to the turn of the trip.
And the question we ask now is this, what’s next?
In motor: All you need to know about the new tariffs for regulated parking Madrid