Parking Lot Sharing

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The parking lot sharing program is growing popular in Seoul. In this program, idle parking lots are opened to nearby residents, easing the parking lot shortage problem in the area and providing more income for lot owners.

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This is a parking lot that belongs to a wedding hall. It stands mostly empty except on weekends when weddings are held. On weekdays, the lot is opened to nearby residents who have leased the space on a monthly basis.

[Soundbite] Park Seung-hyeon (Shared Parking Lot User) : "I used to feud with neighbors because I had to park on the street. But now I have access to this vast parking lot."

This school opens its parking lot to the locals at night, when all the students have gone home. The monthly parking fee is between 20,000 and 50,000 won, which is less than half the rate of other parking lots nearby. This parking lot sharing project started by the Seoul government in 2007 saw a growing number of participants. As of 2017, more than 10,000 parking spots were registered in this program and one thousand more have already been added this year. Building owners that share their parking lots for more than two years stand to receive up to 25 million won in subsidy for facility renovation, such as installing parking barriers, CCTVs, and painting. Also, hourly parking is available at the parking lots of community centers and other public buildings. However, there remains concern of disputes between parking lot operators and users.

[Soundbite] Lee Jong-woon (Parking Planning Division, Seoul Municipal Gov't) : "We don't have the legal authority to crack down on illegal parking. We've proposed to the government to authorize us to impose fines or tow illegally parked vehicles."

People can apply for the parking lot sharing service on the Seoul government's parking information homepage.