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Advance Parking: Rams Home Opener Brings New Service

A new stadium planned for downtown Los Angeles could have implications for the fate of the St. Louis Rams, who can break their lease on the Edward Jones Dome in 2014 unless upgrades are made.
via Wikimedia Commons
A new stadium planned for downtown Los Angeles could have implications for the fate of the St. Louis Rams, who can break their lease on the Edward Jones Dome in 2014 unless upgrades are made.

Rams fans can get their parking reserved in advance of Sunday’s game through a service called Parking Panda.

The company, which was founded in 2011 and provides parking services in 40 U.S. cities, arrived in St. Louis earlier this summer. It has agreements with the Rams and the Cardinals organizations.

Bryan Lozano, Parking Panda’s partner account manager, said the company works with local garages and lots to offer reserved parking. Users go on-line or on Parking Panda’s mobile app to pay upfront and receive an electronic pass.

Lozano said it’s about convenience.

"Rather than having to go find the location, you have the address on the parking pass and rather than having to pay there, everything is upfront," he said, "and the idea is making this extremely seamless."

On Sunday when the Rams take on the Minnesota Vikings at the Edwards Jones Dome, some fans will have reserved parking spots at Kiener Parking East and Kiener Parking West through Parking Panda. Those spots cost $7.70.

Non-reserved parking spots on game day will cost $7-$8, according to a Kiener parking attendant reached by phone.

Lozano said Parking Panda’s rates are usually similar or slightly higher than garages’ non-reserved rates.

"Sometimes it’s a little more expensive, but often it’s the same," he said. "The reason garages are willing to pay that convenience fee is because we bring traffic and we create an optimization platform through our mobile app to get people to go there."        

In St. Louis the service is centered around sporting event parking for now. Lozano said they hope to add daily and monthly parking to the mix in the future, as they have already done in other cities.

Follow Maria on Twitter: @radioaltman

Maria is the newscast, business and education editor for St. Louis Public Radio.