Ellicott City first MD town with Parker, free smartphone parking app [VIDEO]

Driving around Ellicott City just became simpler, thanks to the introduction of the Parker app on Nov. 15.
The app works by providing real-time information on available parking spots in an area based on data collected by street-level sensors installed wherever spots are. These “sensors communicate with a receiver on a nearby lamp pole, which connects to a data center in Dallas, which in turn communicates with the iPhone app,” according to a USA Today article.

Download the Parker app for iPhone here. Download Parker for Android here.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the installation of the street-level sensors to each one of Ellicott City’s nearly 600 parking spots cost $150,000, and annual maintenance and repairs will cost about $170,000 through the city’s contract with California-based Streetline, the company that developed the Parker app.
Watch a video of Howard County executive Ken Ulman announcing Parker is available in Ellicott City:
http://www.youtube.com/v/x56hadk0UFY?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0
Through Parker, drivers can also reserve parking spaces in advance, the main function of the web- and app-based service run by Federal Hill-based Parking Panda, available in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore.