How fairness works

Each week, ParkShare works out who gets a space by looking at how often every member has actually parked over the last 30 days. The rule is simple: the fewer days you have parked, the higher your priority.

Someone who has parked 8 of the last 30 days will rank below someone who has parked only once. This keeps the allocation honest over time — regular winners naturally step back so others get a turn.

Suppose three people need a space on Tuesday and there are two spaces available:

Priya and Tom are allocated the two spaces. Sam misses out this week, but because their count keeps rising relative to everyone else, they will rank higher in coming weeks.

• Days you parked under a normal weekly allocation count towards your 30-day total.
• Days you parked under a day-scoped reservation (from an approved guaranteed-spot request) also count. A reservation is a real parking day.
• A permanent bay is excluded from fairness counting entirely. If you hold a permanent bay, you keep it every week and it never counts against you in the fairness window.

This distinction matters: a permanent bay is a standing arrangement, so its holder neither competes for the pool nor is disadvantaged by keeping the bay. A reservation, by contrast, is a one-off day in the general pool, so it is counted like any other parking day.

• Leave: if you are on recorded leave, you are skipped for that day and your space frees up for someone else. Leave days are not counted as parking days.
• Accessibility needs: members with accessibility requirements are given priority for suitable spaces.
• Preferred space types: you can prefer standard, accessible, EV charging or covered spaces, and the engine will try to match you.
• Preferred specific spaces: if you have a favourite bay, the engine favours giving it to you when it is free.
• Required office days: the engine compares the days you parked against the days you could have parked, so members who only need parking two days a week are not measured against someone who needs it every day.

Sometimes an administrator approves a guaranteed-spot request that pins someone into a space another member already holds for that day. With the administrator's explicit confirmation, the existing holder is displaced.

When that happens, the displaced member gets the day credited in the fairness ledger. The day counts towards the number of days they could have parked, even though they could not — so their future priority is protected.

When someone else wins the space you wanted, it is almost always one of these reasons:

• They have parked fewer days than you in the last 30 days.
• They flagged the day as one they need parking, which gives them priority.
• They have a required office day that outweighs the normal ranking.
• They have an accessibility need or a space preference the engine matched.
• They hold a permanent bay, which sits outside the fairness pool altogether.
• They were displaced earlier in the week and received a credited day in the ledger.

If you genuinely need a space on a particular day, flag the day or request a guaranteed spot — see Park requests in Getting started.