Park Detroit app debuts new and improved features for visiting Downtown

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The city of Detroit is rolling out the improved Park Detroit app Thursday - and FOX 2 got a walkthrough of the updated changes.

"We’re standing right here in Campus Martius," said Keith Hutchings, city of Detroit. "So if we want to come here, expand and (zoom) into the map, and if you are looking for meter parking, you would see the meter right here."

Finding on-street parking and paying from your phone is just one feature.

The city says the app will compare parking prices citywide, use turn-by-turn navigation to a destination, and find the latest events.

"The truth is, this app doesn’t exist anywhere else, in any other city," Hutchings said.

Hutchings is the director of the municipal parking department.

"We have been looking at parking in the city for the last six to seven years, and how to improve it," he said.

While the holidays draw crowds to Downtown Detroit, the analytics company — INRIX— says less people have been visiting downtowns in major American cities since the pandemic began. Their latest report shows a 41 percent drop in trips to Detroit’s Downtown.

Hutchings hopes the new and improved Park Detroit App will attract more people.

"It’s really designed to help address issues like congestion and pollution, and solve a lot of the problems of people who are intimidated coming into an urban area."

There is a long list of features on the app and the city isn’t done, with plans to add more in 2022.