About Westpark
The spaces exist. The information doesn’t.
In an old downtown, parking went where it could fit: behind the shops, along the river, down side streets. The spaces are out of sight, so people circle Main Street. Westpark shows you where they are.
What Westpark uses
- The town’s 2024 parking counts
- Answers from drivers at the lots
- The weather, hour by hour
- The town’s community calendar
- National Weather Service alerts
- The town’s posted rules and parking bans
What Westpark is
Westpark is a free parking guide for downtown Westport, CT. Open it on any phone to see which lots likely have room, how long you can stay, and how to get there. There’s nothing to download and nothing to sign up for.
It’s independent. It isn’t affiliated with the Town of Westport, and it has no ads.
How we estimate
Every estimate starts from the town’s own parking study. BFJ Planning counted the downtown lots nine times in July, October and December 2024, at midday on weekdays and Saturdays and on a Saturday evening. Each lot was split into timed and all-day spaces.
From those counts, Westpark builds each lot’s pattern by the hour for weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Sundays are estimated from the Saturday counts, and weekday evenings from the Saturday evening counts.
When the town counted a lot near this hour, the row shows about how many spaces are open. Otherwise it says how full the lot usually is, in words like “Usually filling”, next to a five-step bar.
Drivers can tell us how full a lot is with one tap, from the lot’s row or after using Directions. For an hour, the row shows that answer and how long ago it came in, and the suggestions use it. Each answer also nudges the estimate for that lot at that time of the week, a little more when two drivers agree.
What changes the estimate
- Rain trims the timed and evening spaces a little. Snow doesn’t count as rain.
- After a storm of 3 inches or more, plowed snow takes some spaces in every lot, and more on the streets, until it melts. We estimate how much from the storm’s size and the temperature since, and don’t show counted numbers while it lasts.
- Events at downtown venues on the town’s calendar add cars to the lots within about a five-minute walk.
- Flood alerts from the National Weather Service take the riverside lots out of the suggestions.
- Weather Service warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, floods, hurricanes and tropical storms, winter storms, high winds and local emergencies pause suggestions from three hours before they start until they end.
- When the town announces a parking ban, the downtown streets say “No parking” and stay out of the suggestions until the town lifts it.
Walk times are Google Maps walking directions to 172 Main Street, the middle of Main Street.
Sources
- BFJ Planning for the Town of Westport: Downtown Westport Parking Study (archived copy)
- Town of Westport: Town reinstates timed parking enforcement
- Town of Westport: Downtown parking time limit signs to be installed August 4
- Open-Meteo: Hourly weather forecasts
- National Weather Service: Forecast and alerts for downtown Westport
- Town of Westport: Community calendar
The downtown rules, each with the town’s notice behind it, are on Parking rules.
What’s next
- NowAll 20 downtown lots, from the town’s 2024 counts, the weather, the town’s calendar and the posted rules. Drivers can tell us how full a lot is with one tap.
- NextA page for each lot, and guides to parking at Saugatuck Station, Greens Farms Station and Compo Beach.
- LaterCounts of our own. The estimates will learn from them and from drivers’ answers, and we’ll publish how accurate they are on a data page. Then estimates for the stations and Compo.
Questions
Is Westpark affiliated with the Town of Westport?
No. It’s independent. It uses what the town publishes: its parking study, its parking notices and its community calendar.
Are there sensors or cameras in the lots?
No. Westpark is software built on counts, drivers’ answers, the weather and the calendar. It never collects license plates.
How accurate is it?
We’ll know once we check it against new counts and drivers’ answers, and we’ll publish the results. The estimates are closest at the hours the town counted: weekday and Saturday middays, and Saturday evenings.
Do I need to download anything?
No. Westpark is a web page that works on any phone, with nothing to sign up for.
Which lots does it cover?
All 20 public downtown lots. See every lot and its limit.
What about the train stations and the beach?
Guides to parking at Saugatuck Station, Greens Farms Station and Compo Beach come next. Until then, the town’s pages on railroad parking and Compo Beach have the rules.
What does Westpark collect about me?
Checking parking collects nothing about you. If you answer “How full is it?”, we keep your answer, the lot, the time and a random ID stored on your phone, so one phone can’t answer too often. The Privacy Policy has the details.
How do I tell you something’s wrong?
Write to feedback@westpark.app with the lot and the time.
Stop circling.
Every downtown lot, right now. Free to use, always, with nothing to download.