PPA partners with SpotHero to help drivers reserve parking spots at Philly garages

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) is now partnering with SpotHero to offer advanced booking for parking at six city-owned garages through the digital parking reservation platform. 

"People have angst when they come to an area where they know there’s going to be some traffic. It’s going to be hard to park so I think to be able to do that ahead of time. They can go right to the location, go right to the spot, and it takes the angst out of it, and I think that’s the goal. Make things convenient and that’s why we want to do it," said Richard Lazer, Executive Director of PPA.

The PPA garages that can be booked in advance through SpotHero include:

• 125 South 2nd Street - Autopark @ Olde City
• 41 N. 6th Street - Autopark @ Independence Mall
• 740 Arch St. (801 Filbert St.) - Parkade on 8th Garage
• 45 N. 10th Street - Autopark @ Fashion District
• 14 S 10th Street - Autopark @ Jefferson Garage
• 124 N. 15th St (1503 Arch St.) - Family Courthouse Garage

"Driving and looking for parking in the city can be very treacherous and it could be like hours sometimes looking for parking, so knowing they have an app where you have parking reserved for you is pretty awesome," said David Bullard of West Oak Lane.

"I have used SpotHero to reserve spots in New York when we were going to see a show. It was very convenient, and it worked well," said Stephanie Gonzalez Ferrandez of Ben Salem. "You get a much better rate and you get it in advance. You lock it in."

Lazer believes SpotHero has the potential to introduce new drivers to its garages, and said PPA is already seeing new parking trends through the app.

"We’re tapping into folks that maybe are doing these pre-orders before they get here and not just somebody pulling in to park for the day," said Lazer. "We’re getting longer stays of people who maybe are coming in for a few days, so they’re booking their whole time and you get feedback also from the customer on what worked and what didn’t."

According to the PPA, the revenue generated at the six city-owned garages are comparable between this year and last year through the period of January 1 and March 17 at more than $1.6 million.

However, online bookings increased this year compared to last year during this period. The city estimates about $2,000 in parking booked through the PPA run app "JPass" in January-March of 2024. Whereas this year, online bookings have already generated $62,117.60. SpotHero accounts for $46,860.50 of that total.

PPA believes the partnership with SpotHero will help the city manage the garages better since they’ll receive additional driver feedback through the service and additional parking data.