San Francisco Moves To Ban MonkeyParking App

San Francisco has moved to ban mobile phone apps that let motorists auction off their parking spaces to other drivers.

The city's tech-savvy residents have come up with a number of solutions to the congested city's parking problems - tempting residents with the chance to make some cash in the process.

One of the apps, MonkeyParking , lets motorists set a price at which they are prepared to give up their free or metered space and matches them up with drivers nearby who are prepared to pay the fee.

It is billed on Apple's App Store as: "The first app which lets you make money every time that you are about to leave your on‐street parking spot."

But San Francisco's City Attorney has issued an immediate cease-and-desist demand to the app's creators and asked Apple to remove it from the App Store for breaking laws that ban individuals and companies from buying, selling or leasing public on-street parking spaces.

The letter from Dennis Herrera warns that drivers using the app face $300 (£175) penalties and the company could be fined $2,500 for each violation if the city chooses to take legal action.

Mr Herrera said: "Technology has given rise to many laudable innovations in how we live and work - and MonkeyParking is not one of them.

"It's illegal, it puts drivers on the hook for $300 fines and it creates a predatory private market for public parking that San Franciscans will not tolerate.

"Worst of all, it encourages drivers to use their mobile devices unsafely - to engage in online bidding wars while driving."

Two other apps, Sweetch and Parkmodo , have also been warned they will face cease-and-desist orders if they continue to operate in the city.

Sweetch charges drivers $5 for a spot, but refunds them $4 if they pass it on to another user, while Parkmodo plans to hire drivers to occupy parking spaces until they are taken over by a paying user of the app.

MonkeyParking has defended its app in the past against allegations that it will make life harder for less well-off drivers, claiming it simply provides information and connects motorists.

Its CEO Paolo Dobrowolny told the San Francisco Chronicle in May: "We're just providing information when someone is leaving. That is valuable information for everybody."