What You Need to Know About Cityfyd, Portland’s New Parking App
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Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Brian McIver, GoLocalPDX Contributor
The sharing economy, It’s the wave of the present. You can share your home, your car, bicycles, tools, and now parking spaces.
Citifyd is the newest peer-to-peer sharing service in the Portland area allowing you to share your parking space to others when you’re not using it.
The service works similar to Airbnb. You own a home or rent an apartment that has a drive way or other similar off street parking area. You sign up through the Citifyd website and register that parking spot. Users then log into the currently iPhone only app to see what parking is available in the particular neighborhood they are in, and for how long. They can then purchase said spot and park away.
This sounds great…for people in Westside Portland neighborhoods who have dedicated parking, and occasionally for places like North Portland during events like last Thursday. Anywhere else where parking isn’t as big a hassle or there are limited to no residential homes seem to benefit little from the service.
That’s not to say that Citifyd isn’t viable or somehow not needed. On the contrary, people that work on the west side of 405 know the nightmare that is parking anywhere over there, and this service could certainly lighten the load in several of those areas. The limited nature of the service however is it’s biggest draw back.
This city, and many like it, needs a service that tracks a wider variety of parking in a wider area. Apps like…well there are really no parking apps for Portland. In other cities app makers have teamed up with city governments and/or privately owned lots to provide some limited services that track parking on some level, but there, surprisingly isn’t much out there, and as mentioned nothing in Portland.
Some sports arenas in other cities provide parking apps that help find open spots and track where you parked, but how much do we need something like this when Tri-Met runs the Max to our two biggest venues, and there is little residential parking near either?
Ideally there would be a parking app that shows available parking not just at residential homes, but also in garages and lots showing prices and availability. Something that tracks street parking letting people who are looking for a spot, say down by PSU or near Providence Park, know that some one is about to leave their spot so they can swoop in and not spend 30 plus minutes searching for that one elusive spot.
That being said Citifyd is doing a lot more than any of the other non-existent parking services in Portland, and if you have a place to park why not make a few bucks off of it when you’re not using it? And if you work in an area where you’d rather bash your skull against a stucco wall than try looking for an open parking spot Citifyd could be exactly what you’re looking for.
Related Slideshow: What 20 Cities Around the World Did when Uber Came to Town
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Louisville, KY
Uber launched in Louisville just in time for the Kentucky Derby last Summer.
Late last month, however, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority barred Uber from operating at its taxi pick-up and drop-off stations.
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New Orleans, LA
After seven months of wrangling, the New Orleans City Council ultimately voted in favor of legalizing ride-sharing services like UberX.
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New Delhi, India
The city's transportation authority banned Uber after accusations surfaced that an Uber driver took a young woman to a secluded area and raped her.
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Boston, MA
The City of Boston began working with a task force to work toward establishing ridesharing regulations.
This is after the city’s taxi cab union organized a rally where cab drivers drove around the block where Uber’s officers are and honked their horns for an hour.
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Amsterdam, Nederland
The Netherlands banned Uber services outright.
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Las Vegas, NV
Nevada issued a statewide ban against Uber after a court argued that the company operates just like a taxi business.
Uber temporarily halted its operations in the state later that week.
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Chicago, IL
The city government of Chicago chose to not take action when Uber came to town so its taxis did.
The Illinois Transportation Administration and the city’s taxi union sued the city in district court for allowing the company to operate in the city without becoming licensed operators.
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Taiwan
The government of Taiwan issued approximately $30,000 in fines to Uber before serving the company with a cease and desist letter.
Government suspended the licenses of a number of Uber drivers, according to reports.
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London, UK
London Mayor Boris Johnson stated it would be difficult to ban Uber without legal review.
In response, the city’s cab drivers staged protests similar to the one in Boston.
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Toronto, Canada
The City of Toronto issued a court injunction against the Uber last month.
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Seattle, WA
The Seattle City Council ruled 8-1 to allow Uber to operate in its city.
In the past, citizens have often been critical about the taxi system in Seattle.
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Montreal, Canada
Uber began operating in Montreal last month, and was quickly deemed illegal by the city government.
The company entered an agreement with the Royal Mounted Canadian Police to conduct background checks on its drivers and other safety regulations.
Meanwhile, the battle between the city and company is carrying on.
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Baltimore, MD
The Maryland Public Service Commission ruled that Uber is subject to the same rules and regulations imposed on other for-hire vehicles in the state.
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Bangkok, Thailand
The Thai government deemed Uber illegal last month. Drivers face maximum fines of up to $121 (฿4,000).
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Hoboken, New Jersey
Police in the City of Hoboken began ticketing Uber drivers for violating the city code on taxis. Fines can be as high as $1,000.
The mayor of Hoboken, on the other hand, has called Uber a valuable transportation option and said he wants to make it available to residents and visitors.
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Fort Lauderdale, FL
Broward County issued stern warnings against Uber, saying it would impound its drivers’ cars.
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San Antonio, TX
The San Antonio City Council is considering a vote that could increase restrictions on rideshare companies like Uber.
Uber responded with a letter stating that if the and amended ordinance is passed, Uber may have to abandon operations in the city.
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Munich, Germany
Germany also banned Uber from operating in its country this year.
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Denver, CO
Colorado became the first state successfully to pass a law regulating ride sharing by requiring background checks, vehicle inspections, and mandatory insurance for the drivers once they are logged into the app.
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