This Bay Area App Is The Airbnb Of Driveways
CARMAnation is a Bay Area-based driveway sharing app, and after launching in February, it now has several thousand users, Mission Local says. With an even mix of people looking to share their driveways - either for free or at a cost - and people looking for a place to park their cars, CARMAnation seems to have created a workable environment for a city that needs sharing.
With 470,000 registered vehicles in San Francisco, the city has just 440,000 public parking spaces, Mission Local says. CARMAnation is working to share the thousands of private spaces that often go unused, if only for a short while.
After registering, users can either post their own parking spots or seek out a place to park. If you find a spot you like, you tap rent, pay by credit card, and the transaction finishes with an email receipt.
The app is also looking to tap into corporate parking lots that are so often empty after employees leave an office at 5 p.m.
"With the Salesforces and LinkedIns around, the employees work nine to five and after, the lots are open with nobody using them," CEO Ilya Movshovich told Mission Local, though so far no large companies have signed on with the app.
You can name your price for your parking spot, but it doesn't always have to be that simple. The app's website says if you have a spot to give away you can swap with someone else or donate your earnings directly to a Bay Area charity.