Today BMW and the Mayor of San Francisco, Ed Lee announced the upcoming launch of ParkNow, an innovative mobile parking solution that is a joint venture with Urban Mobility, and provided new details about DriveNow, a unique premium car-sharing service which features a fleet of BMW ActiveE all-electric vehicles.
Today BMW and the Mayor of San Francisco, Ed Lee announced the upcoming launch of ParkNow, an innovative mobile parking solution that is a joint venture with Urban Mobility, and provided new details about DriveNow, a unique premium car-sharing service which features a fleet of BMW ActiveE all-electric vehicles. San Francisco serves as the initial U.S. market for each service.
The new announcement is in response to tight parking situation in San Francisco. There are an estimated 505,000 vehicles in San Francisco, but only 448,000 parking spaces available at any given time. On weekdays, the total vehicle population increases by approximately 35,000. Even worse, an estimated one-third of all downtown traffic on weekdays is due to vehicles searching for a parking spot.
ParkNow, will help alleviate some of the stress that San Francisco drivers feel when looking for parking. It will be available to drivers beginning in September and is an online mobile parking service that enables users to pay for parking in advance, with guaranteed access and clearly defined rates, based on their personal preferences. Customers can search for parking using ParkNow’s mobile app or website, reserve, pay and then be navigated directly to the parking facility, reducing time spent looking for parking, as well as emissions.
DriveNow which launched in June in San Francisco is a flexible, premium car-sharing program offering the opportunity to drive BMW’s first all-electric vehicle, the BMW ActiveE with zero emission driving. The fleet of 70 ActiveE vehicles is located at eight DriveNow Stations around San Francisco, with two additional stations in Palo Alto and at the San Francisco International Airport coming soon. After registering online or in-person, customers can locate and book an available car using the DriveNow web site or mobile app. They can then return the car to the same – or any other – DriveNow Station, allowing for convenient one-way trips, if desired. Stations are located around the city, close to BART, MUNI and bike-sharing stations. Through a partnership with California-based Coulomb Technologies’ ChargePoint network, the largest network of independently-owned electric vehicle charging stations, drivers can easily locate a nearby charging station if they need to top-off during the course of their rental, which has no time limit. Parking and charging is free at DriveNow Stations.
Our friend Hoshang was one of the first people to sign up today in SF. Thanks for these two photos!
