A new start-up, founded by three Victoria University students, aims to match unused parking spaces with those who need them.
The founders hope that the start-up, called “Parallel”, will make more parking spots available which might otherwise be inaccessible, and that it will help to get people involved in the shared economy where they can lease out their property’s spare car parks.
Kirstin Smith, Conor Grice, and Keagan Kuhn are the pioneering students behind Parallel, which is being billed as a “parking collective”. While it is not the first of its kind in New Zealand, it is the first in Wellington, and is already proving popular, with demand outstripping supply.
Smith explained where the idea for Parallel came from and where she sees the company going in the future. “We just saw the hit parking in Wellington took after the earthquakes. In terms of cost to park and lack of available parks. However, we could see there isn’t actually a lack of carparks but a lack of them being available. We wanted to open those up to those who need them.”
At present Parallel operates through their website, but they aim to release an app within the next 6 months.