Poster
Poster

Gangnam-gu's smart shared-parking service, which lets residents share their designated parking spaces through mobile apps, saw usage climb 36.6% within a month after the district expanded the program to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year starting July 1, district mayor Kim Hyeon-gi announced.

The "Smart Shared Parking" service allows residents assigned to priority parking spaces to share those spots with other drivers via the mobile apps Parking Friends and Parking With when the spaces are unoccupied. Previously, the service ran only from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays; the July 1 expansion extended availability to nights, weekends and public holidays.

Total usage in July reached 21,342 transactions, up 5,723 from 15,619 in June — a 36.6% increase. The impact of the round-the-clock expansion was most visible in the newly opened hours: weekday nighttime usage came to 2,752 transactions and weekend and holiday usage to 2,522, together accounting for 5,274 transactions, or 24.7% of the monthly total.

The extended hours have broadened the range of drivers the service reaches — from early-morning commuters heading into the area before 9 a.m. to residents running late-night errands or working overtime. A worker in Cheongdam-dong said the change had made her commute noticeably easier. "I usually have to be at work by 8:30 a.m., so finding parking before 9 was always a struggle," she said. "Now that shared parking runs around the clock, I can park comfortably even before 9. And on nights when I work late, I can just extend my parking time — it's much more convenient."

The district said the 24-hour operation allows it to make better use of spaces that would otherwise sit empty at night and on weekends, improving the efficiency of existing infrastructure without building new parking facilities. During high-demand evening and holiday hours in particular, drivers now have more options when looking for a spot.

Gangnam-gu has also stepped up outreach to drive further adoption. Since July, the district has been broadcasting instructional videos on how to use the service on the district office's electronic billboard, screens at neighborhood community center service counters, and major digital displays across the district. It plans to produce additional promotional videos highlighting the 24/7 availability and distribute them through both online and offline channels.

The district also plans to survey residents who hold parking assignments but have not joined the sharing program, in order to identify ways to increase participation.

"Since the 24-hour opening, shared parking has been actively used at night and on weekends, allowing us to put vacant spaces to much better use," district mayor Kim said. "We will continue to make the most of existing parking infrastructure to ease the parking crunch in the urban core and reduce inconvenience for residents."


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