Statement of the City of Boston

"The Mayor is always looking at ways to improve parking in Boston. We encourage innovation, particularly relative to addressing our transportation challenges in Boston. The City, for example, has issued Requests for Proposals for partners who can offer apps and other methods to help people pay parking meters and parking tickets; those proposals are dueJuly 18th and July 25th, respectively."

"Services like Haystack, however, artificially inflate the cost of parking and allow individuals to profit from public space. Neither of these activities is in line with the City's effort to keep parking as open and publicly accessible as possible. These spaces are publicly owned, and cannot be privately sold."

"We are aware of Haystack's 'launch' today, and the City of Boston maintains our position: metered and residential parking spaces are publicly owned and cannot be privately sold. Expanding on this, the Boston Transportation Department today issued the the policy statement below."  

"At this time, we are not engaged with Haystack in any discussions around a partnership. City representatives have met with Haystack to explore their service, and at this point, we remain concerned that their app, and apps like it, artificially inflate the cost of parking, and allow individuals to profit from public space. We are exploring our options to protect the residents and consumers of Boston."