Hail a scooter-riding 'Vallie' to park your car in London
Driving in London can be slow and stressful enough, but finding a parking spot? Eesh. For many locals, that's the stuff of nightmares. Vallie wants to solve the problem with a valet parking app that lets you request custom drop-off and pick-up points inside the city. The service is available right now, but there are some caveats to be aware of; one, it's only available in a small patch of central London, between Farringdon and Aldgate; two, parking costs £8 per hour or £25 per day; three, Vallie only operates Monday to Friday, 7am to 8pm, so late-night dinners and weekend expeditions are out of the question.
If your trip meets all of these criteria though, booking a "Vallie" seems simple enough. Download the app, set a destination point and a pre-checked driver will meet you on a kick scooter (not the coolest transportation, but it makes sense given its speed and portability.) Once you've handed over the keys, the vehicle will be dropped off in a partner car park -- always with CCTV and barriers -- and you can keep tabs on its location through the app. When you're ready, you re-open the app and set a drop-off point. Vallie aims to return the vehicle within 20 minutes, but with London traffic we suspect that'll be a little optimistic during rush hour. Oh, and did I mention that the app is iPhone-only right now? According to The Next Web, Android users will be parking their own cars until early 2016.
With so many limitations, it's hard to see the service gaining much traction. If Vallie can build a user base, however, there's a chance it can scale up to the point where its coverage area, prices and times make it more viable. For now, it's probably cheaper and more convenient to use a ride-hailing app like Uber -- but if you're desperate to have your own wheels on the road, this could take the hassle out of finding a parking spot.
