Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
WHEEL DEAL Book your space instead of driving around for a place to park
PARKING can be one of the most stressful, time-wasting and expensive aspects of owning a car and the number of motorists driving around the CBD looking for a parking spot adds significantly to traffic congestion. Overnight parking on the streets also comes with security issues.
RentMyBay developer Craig Murray knows all about this. He lived in a 13-storey building in the CBD which had no visitors’ parking. When his girlfriend visited, she had to park in the street, and her car was broken into and vandalised several times.
Murray also realised that for much of the time, the parking available in the CBD was being under-used.
“I noticed how parking was severely under-utilised with bays standing empty during office hours or overnight.
“Many people live in the city centre but leave during office hours to work in the suburbs, leaving their parking space empty during peak periods. The same applies to parking bays that stand open after office hours.
“I realised there was an opportunity for a shared parking rental concept, or ‘rent your bay while you’re away’.”
He started developing an online platform last year, and the site went live in March this year.
“I wanted the site to be peer-topeer based, connecting drivers to the parking bay owners and to cater for various rental periods – daily, weekly, monthly and even annually.
“It was important for me to ensure it was a customisable platform, allowing users to be in full control of how they want to rent out their space, the availability, price and cancellation terms. My focus is on simplicity, convenience and automation. I want it to be as easy as possible and hassle-free to list and find parking.”
Listing a space on the website is free, but RentMyBay charges a commission of 5% to hosts and parkers.
Tammy Hardy, head of marketing for RentMyBay, says current marketing is focused on Cape Town, the city where both she and Murray live and with which they are most familiar.
“But this is a parking solution that could be used anywhere, even globally. People living in other provinces can already use the system. Because it is designed as a peer-to-peer system, spaces can be listed in any area, making it possible for anyone living in those areas to book parking there.”