Ann Arborites create new technology to simplify parking

Parking woes have long been the scourge of downtown Ann Arbor. But a couple of local brains are coming up with a new application that could help solve that problem without adding a single extra space.”Everyone is interested in parking,” says Fred Posner, who developed the new application with Ed Vielmetti. “There has been some creative use of this data in the past.”What he’s talking about is the real-time data of how full downtown Ann Arbor’s parking garage are at any given point or time. That information is available at the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority’s website.There is a chance that someone planning to visit downtown will see available spaces in a specific parking garage that might not be there when he or she arrives. Posner and Vielmetti’s application would allow that motorist to call a number, set a parking garage destination and allow that number to call them before they get there with the parking availability.A prototype of this service is available to the public by calling (212) 937-7844. Posner and Vielmetti hope to have a Beta version with a local number up and running within a couple of weeks.Source: Fred Posner, developer of the downtown Ann Arbor parking applicationWriter: Jon Zemke