Re:App parking system shuts down in San Francisco
by joe_the_user on Sunday July 13, 2014 @08:29PM
(#8029058)
Well, technically parking spaces aren't public goods in the sense of goods freely distributed by the city.
At least in downtown, "public parking" is rented by the city at the rate they set. You may claim the rate city sets is too low, yes. But that doesn't actually entitle you (or anyone else) to lay claim to parking spaces and auction them as you please - since, well, they don't actually belong to you.
This doesn't really have much to do with "publicness" actually. Rental car companies would be equally upset if people developed an app for car renters to extract a surcharge for handing a rental off to their "friends".
At least in downtown, "public parking" is rented by the city at the rate they set. You may claim the rate city sets is too low, yes. But that doesn't actually entitle you (or anyone else) to lay claim to parking spaces and auction them as you please - since, well, they don't actually belong to you.
This doesn't really have much to do with "publicness" actually. Rental car companies would be equally upset if people developed an app for car renters to extract a surcharge for handing a rental off to their "friends".