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Daily Talker: Battle Over Parking Apps Coming To Boston

Finding street parking in Boston is rarely easy. Now, a company wants to change that, and the city isn't happy about it.

Haystack Mobile Technologies started in Baltimore, offering a free app allowing people to sell the parking spaces they're using to others for $3, with Haystack keeping 75 cents. The Boston Herald reports it is holding a launch party Tuesday to begin offering the service in Boston.

"Services like Haystack... artificially inflate the cost of parking and allow individuals to profit from public space," said Kate Norton, a spokeswoman for Mayor Marty Walsh, in an interview with the Globe. "These spaces are publicly owned and cannot be privately sold."

San Francisco's city attorney ordered a similar app called Monkey Parking to shut down after it began operating in the city, saying police code prohibits the sale or lease of public parking spaces. The CEO has maintained that the app doesn't sell spaces, only information about those spaces.

What should the city of Boston do about this and other parking space apps? Should they be allowed to operate, or should the city find a way to stop them? Share your comments below, and watch for them on WBZ News in the Morning from 4:30 to 7:00 a.m.

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