By Lookout Staff

November 23 -- Hunting for parking in Santa Monica just got a bit easier. Now shoppers, beachcombers and visitors can go on-line to quickly find an empty space at public garages and lots.

The Web site, launched just in time for the holidays, displays the number of spaces left in Downtown structures and beach lots.

Updated every five seconds, the number of spaces available at each location is projected onto a birds-eye view of the Downtown and beach areas. When the site is full, the rectangle with the number of spaces turns red and reads “full.”

The goal is to "make the traffic and congestion problems go away or at least try to alleviate them," said Jory Wolf, the City's chief information officer.

For those without a handy internet connection on their laptops or cell phones, electronic signs remain posted outside each parking structure listing the number of empty spaces.

For view the system visit parkingspacenow.smgov.net