#parkbetter – The Techno Revolution: Parking Made Easy

Drivers can now use their smartphones to help them #parkbetter

Technology, specifically the internet, is not just making it easier to find pictures of cats. It is also working to make our lives much simpler. Thanks to smart phones and GPS, one of the biggest hassles of being a driver can now be avoided.

From finding the perfect parking space, to letting your car do all the hard work, here are three ways modern technology is making driving much more convenient.

AA Parking App

The AA's parking app gives you real-time updates on vacant parking spaces

Before you even get down to the nitty-gritty of physically parking your car you need to find a space for it to sit in.

Once upon a time this would have involved a lot of hard work, driving up and down, canvassing the neighbourhood, or trying to chisel off a pair of double yellow lines from the road.

The official AA parking app puts an end to the mysterious art of finding a parking space. You can search for car parks, both free and paid, near your current location or your destination. It works all across the UK and Ireland, lets you find the cheapest place to park, and in some areas it can even tell you in real time how many spaces are available.

Park at My House

Park At My House lets you rent out your driveway to other drivers

While you can spend your days struggling to find suitable parking in car parks and busy streets, there is another way.

Park at My House is a new website that connects owners of unused garages, driveways, and other parking spaces, with drivers looking for somewhere cheap and convenient to park.

You simply search by location, date, or duration of your stay and the website will come back with a list of suitable properties.

Perfect for longer stays, this arrangement allows you to save money on long-term parking, and leave your car somewhere safer than a public multi-storey car park.

The Audi A7’s Virtual Chauffeur

The best arrangement is always one where you get dropped off at your destination and then picked up again when you’re done. Of course it isn’t always possible to coordinate your plans with friends, colleagues, or parents. If only you could have this kind of arrangement simply between you and your car.

Incredibly, the latest technology that Audi is working on could do just that. You can drive the A7 to your destination, get out, and as you go about your business the car will take itself off and find somewhere to park. Once you are done you simply use a smartphone app to recall your car, and it will come and pick you up from your current location.

It may sound incredibly futuristic but Audi believes that this technology could be on the mass market within a decade.

There Is Another Way…

Of course, all these gadgets are great – but apps which rely on data connections are rendered pretty much useless when you can’t get a reliable connection. And as for self-parking technology, we doubt it’ll be affordable for the average driver when it finally comes to market.

A parking sensor kit, on the other hand, will help you #parkbetter without the huge price tag or any great technical wizardry – why not take a look at our range?

If you’ve got any tips for gadgets and apps which can aid you in your parking, drop us a comment below.