VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Heading into a busy holiday weekend, parking is about to get easier for people.
Many families who are planning to spend time at the beach are turning to Drivewey Technologies, a company that let's people rent out or "host" their driveways and lots for a profit.
"We enable people to monetize their parking lots," said LeeAnne Dean, head of host enablement at Drivewey Technologies. "For example, there are restaurants that don't open till 5 p.m., because they're a dinner restaurant, so if they have a perfect location like this one, they can monetize it all day for beach parking."
If you have a parking space, it could be your driveway, you can sign up to create a host account. You'll add where it is located, how much it will cost, and how many hours it's available.
Then a "new driver" can sign up to rent it.
Let's say you want to go to the beach on the Fourth of July. You already know it's going to be crowded, but with Drivewey, you can reserve a space so it's waiting for you when you get there.
"We have a whole network down here [at the Oceanfront] of about 15 blocks that you guys can choose from. Even up on shore drive we have some awesome local beach spots, sort of little hidden gems," said Dean.
Drivewey is also available in other cities across the 757, including Norfolk.
When it comes to parking in Virginia Beach, for example, the city offers lots, garages, and meters and in 2018 brought $6.1 million in revenue. A portion of this year's profit will now go to Drivewey and its hosts.
"We meet a lot with the zoning people down here, and we're on the phone with them constantly. We check all of our lots, on top of that we have to get use permits for certain sites and all of that," said Dean. "This is really for anybody. Anybody can use us to park and anybody can make money off of their spot."
Drivewey.com also offers options for overnight and over-sized parking.
As the founder's like to say, "life's too short to be hunting for a parking space."
