BOSTON (WHDH) - A few Massachusetts high school students have designed a new app to help Boston commuters find parking spaces.
Students from Acton-Boxboro Regional High School and Chelmsford High School spent more than a year creating the Telepark app.
A driver can enter their destination and the app will guide them to the closest available parking meter. If that spot gets taken, it will re-route drivers to another available spot.
“The fact that it’s a daily event, finding your parking is something that you have to do most days, so it shouldn’t be something that’s stressful,” said Sarada Koppana, one of the app’s founders.
The three girls behind the app met during an entrepreneurial class in Boston. They decided to work together when they realized they all shared the same frustrations.
“From my personal experience going into Boston, whether it’s just for family dinners, or for get-togethers, or just shopping… it would be so hard to find street parking on the streets and that would take time out of the event we’re actually getting to,” said Vani Mittal, another founder of Telepark.
The team already won $10,000 in funding through a business plan competition. Their mentors said the students’ drive and dedication have made them successful.
“They have an amazing team that they’re excited to work together, get through the hard parts of it together, and I think that means they have a really bright future in front of them,” said Wes Schroll, the CEO of Fetch.
The students are hopeful Telepark will continue to grow.
“We’ve been networking, we’ve been working on actualizing the product, and we’re going to try to make it and take it as far as we can,” Koppana said.
The students said they’re hoping to find more financial backers for the project. They are aiming to have the app go live by next fall.
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