Locally developed app hopes to ease parking woes in General Hospital area

App aims to curb parking problems in Regina A new app is hoping to help ease parking trouble in Regina’s Heritage neighbourhood, as Jamie Fischer reports

A new app is hoping to help ease parking trouble in Regina’s Heritage neighbourhood.

“The business can best be described as AirBnB but for parking spots,” said Kyle Smyth, one of Offstreet’s creators.

The idea is simple: Offstreet acts as a mediator for people looking for parking spaces, and private citizens and businesses that have spaces they want to rent out. Customers pay through the app using a credit card.

For now, the business is just at the beginning stages. Offstreet is currently only operating in the Heritage neighbouhood, and only in a beta testing capacity. The area has a long history of parking issues.

Offstreet is still looking for people to help with their beta testing. The company is needs both people who are willing to rent out their private property for parking, as well as those who are looking to rent the spots.

An Android version is still in development.

A new app is helping to ease parking trouble in Regina’s Heritage neighbourhood.

“The business can best be described as AirBnB but for parking spots,” said Kyle Smyth, co-founder of Offstreet.

The idea is simple: Offstreet acts as a mediator for people looking for parking spaces, and private citizens and businesses that have spaces they want to rent out. Customers pay through the app using a credit card.

Smyth said the idea for the app came from his business partner, Matt Fahlman, who struggled to find parking when commuting to work.

For now, the business is just at the beginning stages. Offstreet is currently only operating in the Heritage neighbourhood, and only in a beta testing capacity. The area has a long history of parking issues.

Smyth said the service is currently only testing day-time parking, but they do plan to expand the hours as the app grows.

While the City of Regina does regulate where parking is allowed on private lots, a spokesperson for the city said it does not regulate the tenancy of off-street parking on residential lots.

Unlike other parking services, Offstreet doesn’t plan to use big financial penalties to users who overstay their welcome.

“We don’t believe in parking tickets,” Smyth said. “We think it's atrocious that you can be charged up to  five times the day rate just for making a mistake.”

Instead, drivers who forget to pay will be charged for a full day at the spot, which works out to about $5.

If a driver stays in a parking spot too long and blocks the next customer from accessing the space, then they “pay it forward” by paying for that driver’s next parking spot.

Offstreet is still looking for people to help with their beta testing. The company is needs both people who are willing to rent out their private property for parking, as well as those who are looking to rent the spots.

An Android version is still in development.