7 On Your Side: Technology could help solve San Francisco parking woes

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- For those planning on going to Thursday's opening game in San Francisco, parking can present quite a problem, but there's a high tech way to to solve this issue.

Trisha Lopez knows her way around San Francisco and that means she knows San Francisco parking.

"Coming in from the East Bay, I am always searching for parking and driving around," Lopez said.

Around AT&T Park there is plenty of parking, but it doesn't come cheap and the spaces are often filled. So Lopez uses an app to find and reserve her parking space. When she goes to a game she knows exactly where she wants to park.

"I would normally park at China Basin. It is really convenient and right across the street from the ballpark. So, I'll definitely use it when I come in so I know where I am going and where I am going to park," she said.

Knowing where she wants to park is different than actually getting a space there and one at a good price. So she uses the parking space reservation app called SpotHero.

"It shows me right here and then shows me parking right around the area," she said. And it also shows the prices being charged for the day and time you want to park.

On this day, the China Basin lot is charging $14, another nearby lot, $10 and still another $50.

On opening day, the app shows a parking space for $15 a few blocks away from AT&T Park and a $70 spot across the street from the ballpark. There are several parking apps available, including ParkingPanda, BestParking and ParkMe.

They all cut their own deals with parking lots, so depending on the app different spaces are shown and different prices are charged. But these apps all allow you to reserve a space in advance and pay by way of app, so no cash exchanges hands.

Tim Maloney is with SpotHero. "Parking can be one of the biggest headaches people have each days, so by finding a place to park and getting a reservation through your phone you take the worry out of trying to get a spot. And then the value, you can get up to 50 percent discount," Maloney said.