Haystack was a start-up app that connected people looking for an on-street parking spot with people leaving their parking spot.  Once  Vehicle A took over the spot from Vehicle B, Vehicle A paid Vehicle B and Haystack took a little commission.
Planet Money did a four minute podcast about Haystack being shutdown and the Boston Globe ran a follow-up article on why it’s illegal. Â Legally, it’s like someone standing outside of Central Park and trying to charge you admission to go into the free, publicly maintained park.
Haystack identified a real existing problem with public parking and developed a clever, free market solution. Â I agree with shutting them down though based on the Massachusetts law governing parking meters that was cited in the Boston Globe post.
A much, much better solution would be if cities would implement the dynamic price parking meter system Carnegie Mellon developed.
Photo Credit: Â Streets.mn
