How DropIn chooses a nearby parking match
Learn how DropIn combines proximity, departure timing and giver approval to offer one practical nearby parking handover at a time.
Nearby first, not fastest tap first
A useful parking handover needs both people to be close enough to meet. DropIn therefore checks location and timing rather than publicly announcing the space to every member in a suburb.
The service handles one active request per member and one active proposal for a parking space. Database safeguards prevent the same space from being successfully assigned to two people at once.
The practical checks
The precise algorithm may evolve as real pilot data shows what produces calmer, more successful handovers.
- Both members have an active GPS-confirmed session.
- They are inside the matching radius, which is up to 1.2 kilometres.
- The finder’s estimated arrival is compatible with when the giver expects to leave.
- Neither member is already committed to another active handover.
- The giver has not already passed on the same proposal.
Why the giver still approves
An algorithm can estimate proximity, but it cannot know every real-world detail in a car park. The giver may see an existing queue, realise they need more time or prefer not to complete the handover.
Approval makes the match a human decision. It also creates the privacy boundary: exact GPS and vehicle plates are not exchanged until the giver says yes.
When no match appears
No result usually means there is no compatible giver nearby at that moment. Keep the search active only while you are ready to take a park and stop it when you leave the area.
DropIn cannot create parking supply; it can only make an existing departure easier to coordinate.
Questions about this guide
Is the closest person always selected?
Proximity is important, but the expected arrival also needs to fit the giver’s departure timing and both sessions must still be eligible.
Can two people get the same space?
DropIn’s transactional matching and active-session constraints are designed to prevent one active space from being committed to two people.
Does tapping first guarantee the park?
No. The giver must accept, and the public space can still be taken before the handover is completed.