Test program in the Bronx would allow drivers to use app to find parking

Smartphones meet smart parking.

A pilot program that allows drivers to download an app that finds empty street parking will be launched in the Bronx, transportation officials said this week. While it's meant to make it easier for drivers, some officials in Manhattan remain skeptical until they see the results.

"It's so hard to get a space, and when you see one [on your phone], it could already be gone," Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Upper West Side), a member of the tech committee, said Thursday.

She added that not everybody has a smartphone, and that could be an unfair advantage.

Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said 177 hockey puck-like sensors are being installed on 187th Street in Belmont. If the devices withstand weather and street cleaning conditions over the next three months, the city will unveil the free app.

The sensors were donated to the city.