Google Maps solves your parking woes

Photo by mil8

Everyone knows that finding a parking space can be a frustrating experience. On a busy day in a busy city you might have spent los of time queueing to reach the car park only to find there are no spaces left. Or perhaps you're just a bad (or nervous) driver and only like going to car parks where there are plenty of spaces.

From the title of this post you might have assumed that Google maps will now amazingly help you do this somehow. No. It won't...unless you live in Santa Monica (those lucky people). Lei Zhang at the LatLong blog wrote:

"Google has just teamed up with Santa Monica's Information Systems Department to provide real-time data from the city's parking lots. Now, before I head out the door I can check the Parking Information Mapplet and know exactly where I can expect to find a space waiting for me. Adding the Mapplet takes just a few clicks. With it enabled, you can find the locations of Santa Monica's city-operated parking lots and get up to the minute information on how many free spaces they have. With this new tool in hand, we hope you'll spend a lot less time in the parking lot!"

Really, really handy.