Sacramento, CA launches digital parking reservation system
The City of Sacramento recently launched SacPark, a new parking reservation system that allows drivers to see available parking downtown and reserve spaces in advance.
Newsworthy
Sacramento Launches Parking App SacPark.org – Smart Cities Connect
Sacramento Launches Parking App SacPark.org – Smart Cities Connect
Reserve your spot! - SacPark launches web-based parking reservation system - City Express
The SacPark Reservation System is live as of Thursday, September 1! Sacramento residents and visitors attending events at the Golden 1 Center, and venues throughout the Central City, will now have the ability to reserve a spot ahead of time at any of the City’s garages or at a Certified Partner parking facility. Reservations will […]
Reserve your spot! - SacPark launches web-based parking reservation system - City Express
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SACRAMENTO — It’s a fact of downtown life that people who live there need to park there and people who park there need to pay. “You gotta pay and yeah, there’s a lot of stipulations to parking,” said Sacramento resident Tanya Azar. But if you’ve gotten a parking ticket recently at one of Sacramento’s newer […]
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Highlights
The SacPark app to give drivers access to parking data generated by sensors in parking garages and meters in real time.
SacPark can be accessed as an app from a mobile device or from the web at SacPark.org.
City officials reported that 230,000 spaces were reserved via SacPark in its first year.
Summary
Sacramento, CA, is revolutionizing city parking with SacPark, a new parking system that allows users to view available parking, making advanced reservations, and extend their parking time by web or smartphone. This initiative was a response to the difficulty of finding parking in downtown Sacramento and relies on sensors, which transmit parking data in real time.
The SacPark application, launched in September 2016, originally showed parking data for public garages and lots and some private garages. By 2017, the city expanded the service to include street parking by installing sensors in almost 6,000 parking meters. These Smart Meters accept multiple forms of payment and will text users when their parking time is close to expiring.
The new system has experienced some growing pains: hearing officers dismissed thousands of erroneous parking violations in 2017 caused by everything from sensor errors to spotty smartphone service, which occasionally showed users they'd paid for their parking, even if the meters hadn't registered payment.
The city's parking manager said that dismissing the parking violations helps to build community trust and encourage use of the new system. SacPark also incentivizes users by offering a 25% discount for parking booked through the app, as well as the convenience of reserving spaces for future dates and managing parking in real time. The app also provides directions to available parking and information on transportation options for navigating downtown Sacramento including the light rail, ride share and bicycles.
The city believes SacPark will save Sacramento residents and visitors time, fuel, and ultimately, money, while meeting diverse parking demands.