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Apple Maps adds Parkopedia data on garages and parking lots

Starting Wednesday in some venues, Apple Maps will supplement existing data on parking with more information from the Parkopedia database, including pricing, real-time spot availability, and hours of operation of garages and parking lots.

Parkopedia has an app on the iOS App Store that supplies the company's data to iOS users already. However, the addition of the service's data to Apple Maps will allow users to view key information about garages and organized parking areas, with the ability to click-through to the app to view more detailed information about the area.

Apple started adding information about parking areas in March, with just an icon denoting a parking venue and very limited information associated with the location. Apple Maps is now providing a subset of information in supported areas directly from Parkopedia about the kind of facility that is selected, giving the user data about payment options, hours the facility is open, and electric vehicle charging spots without leaving the app.

The data from Parkopedia is a natural supplement to the iOS 10 addition of location services marking of a user's parked car automatically on Apple Maps, based on the completion of a journey that is not the user's home.

Parkopedia bills itself as a "wikipedia for parking" covering 75 countries, 38 million parking spots, and 150,000 facilities in over 6300 cities and towns. Users are able to add, edit, and review parking information on the site. In conjunction with garage owners, the app can allow for reservations, and distribution of special offers to app users.

No timetable has been announced for expansion of the Parkopedia dataset for all Apple Maps users.

The Parkopedia app requires 73MB of storage space, requires iOS 8 or greater, and is available on the iOS App store.