There is more than one way to park for the Colorado Rockies’ home opener.
The official Coors Field parking lot opens at 9 a.m. Friday. You can prepay and reserve a spot at rockies.com/parking.
Or you can drive around downtown trolling for a space at a fair price.
Or you can just use your smartphone.
Several parking apps have launched in Denver since last baseball season, updating this antiquated industry with digital tools and a convenience that is expected in 2015. There may even be spots closer to the field than the stadium’s Lot B, a 15-minute walk to Gate A.
“There’s really a revolution going on in the parking industry right now, and it starts with the fundamental change in attitude and orientation,” said Casey Jones, a former board member of the International Parking Institute. “We’re a service industry, and it hasn’t always been looked at that way.”
Parking Panda, launched in Denver last fall, manages about 30 lots and garages. CurbStand, which focuses on finding, paying and tipping a valet service, launched in Denver in December. SpotHero this week announced its arrival in Denver, with 22 garages.
Jones pointed to growth in venture capital for parking technologies. In 2010, investors put $6 million in parking technology. Last year, it was $76 million.
“With the proliferation of smartphones and mobile information, that really opened the door for the parking industry to respond to customer needs,” Jones said.
In Denver, there is also Parkmobile, super handy for paying for metered parking; L.E.G. Valet, which partnered with Boulder-based BluCar app and sends an attendant to meet you where your car is and park it for you; and BestParking, which offers paid reservations or a rate guarantee, which is good for a few hours. Other parking apps, including ParkMe, simply show where parking is and what the posted prices are. ParkMe also features tools such as “Parking Timer” and “Mark My Car,” the latter of which helps you remember where you parked.
“They’re really useful for identifying garages that might not be immediately obvious,” said Aylene McCallum, director of downtown environment at Downtown Denver Partnership. “But unless you can reserve a spot and know what the price is, I’d be skeptical because the parking prices change all the time.”
That’s actually where some apps prove extra handy.
At SpotHero, as of Thursday afternoon, you could reserve a space at the Guaranty Motor Bank Garage for Friday’s game for $14, the low end of what Coors Field charges. SpotHero even tells you how far from Coors Field the space is — in this case four-tenths of a mile, an eight-minute walk.
But here’s a secret: Multiple apps can lead you to the same garage. Each app has an agreement with the garage for a certain number of reserved spots.
9 apps to help drivers find or pay for parking in Denver
“It’s very important to note that what matters for parking apps is not only the number of facilities but also the number of spaces in each one,” said Nicole Wylie, SpotHero’s Denver account executive. “One company may only have one spot which regularly sells out, while another company may have 50 spots and therefore never sells out.”
Parking Panda, whose expertise is event parking, makes it easy for garage owners to add more spots quickly that can be reserved within the app.
“It’s fluid. We can cater to more people if need be, according to demand,” said Parking Panda spokesman Bryan Lozano.
Another consequence of digitized parking control? Parking lot managers can “change their prices at any given moment,” Lozano said.
What’s coming sooner than later is one app that can do all things. Denver-based Parkifi hopes to be that service. Currently, it’s installing sensors at the surface lot at 2000 Larimer St. The sensors will help lot managers and drivers know exactly which spots are available.
“What we’re seeing just illustrates how much of a problem parking is for the consumer,” Parkifi co-founder Rishi Malik said. “Smartphones have been around for a while. But there’s a problem out there that isn’t getting solved. We’re not solving the problem by a mobile app alone.”
Parkifi sensors offer parking managers real-time information and the ability to keep a digital history. That will help owners run their parking lots more intelligently and maximize profit, co-founder Ryan Sullivan said.
“Our real-time data has weather data and event data. It can give them a real-time view of how their lot performed in the past and what they can expect in the future and how to vary the prices,” he said.
Parkifi is adding sensors to Alpha Park lots in Denver and expects to have about 1,000 spots online by mid-May.
But the hardware is just a piece of Parkifi’s business. It plans to integrate other existing real-time vacancy data, such as garage cameras used to track open spots, and partner with existing mobile apps Passport Parking and MobileNow that consumers could use to find open spots and pay for them.
“We don’t think there’s a need for another mobile app,” Sullivan said.
Tamara Chuang: 303-954-1209