I recently moved places in Amsterdam. Owning a car, it’s always been clear that I’d eventually have to deal with the city’s tough parking restrictions.

At my previous place, I could just park in the street for free (although that was also about to change this year). But now, street parking is 3.5€ / hour which is super expensive. There is a private parking option in our new building, but there’s a waiting list and it’ll take a while.

So for now, my only option is to park at the nearest Park & Ride, as they offer discounted rates for up to 96 hours. If I play my cards correctly, it’s actually even cheaper than any other option, at around 40-50€ / month.

The only requirement is that, in order to benefit from this parking discount, you need to have travelled within the central Amsterdam area by tram or metro 1 hour prior to paying. This means I need to travel by public transit before I can pay for my parking and pick up the car. Thankfully, the central area is only one stop away, so it’s only about a 15 min ordeal from my front door to stepping in the car.

So, because there’s a 96 hour limit on this discount, I also have to pick up the car every 4 days. That’s where my new App comes in.

Introducing Amsterdam P+R

amspr

This simple app was born from my own personal need to track my parking session at Amsterdam’s various Park & Rides. I’ve added a product page for the App here.

Right now the features are quite simple, allowing you to pick your P+R and start tracking your session. It schedules daily notifications with cost estimates and reminders when it’s time to pick up your car. I’ve got plans to expand this feature set with:

  • Geolocation: automatically select the nearest P+R, based on your current location.
  • Archiving: Parking sessions are archived and can easily be viewed.
  • Detailed cost explanations: See costs details, to understand how the session is billed.
  • And more…