Texts sent as street sweeping reminders

It's April, which means street sweeping is back in Columbus. On the second Thursday and Friday of each month, April through October, cars parked on streets scheduled for sweeping in the University District will be towed.

Metal signs posted on off-campus streets identify sweeping zones and explain parking restrictions, but now there is a more convenient way to remember when to move your car.

By text-messaging "tow campus" to HOLMES (465637), students who park in sweeping zones can receive reminders of when the streets are being swept.

The innovative notification system is the brainchild of Vitaliy Levit and Yury Tsukerman, two Columbus residents.

The program and its Web site, antitow.com, were launched two weeks ago. Levit said he and Tsukerman came up with the idea after each of them had been towed for illegally parking during a street sweeping.

"We tried to come up with a way to potentially fix this problem," Levit said. "We always thought it would be nice to have someone remind us when we had to move our car."

That is exactly what the anti-tow system does. Tsukerman designed the technology that sends subscribers reminders via text message the day before and morning of street sweeping. Users can choose the area they want to be alerted about from a list of local areas, such as the University District, German Village and Neil Avenue. A complete list can be found on antitow.com.

Student who park on Neil Avenue can text "tow neil" to HOLMES to receive notifications about when the street will be swept.

Also available on the Web site is a map that shows all street sweeping zones and a calendar that marks when alert messages will be sent. Levit promises that subscribers will not receive more than six text message reminders a month.

Though the subscription is free, standard phone service fees apply. It can be stopped at any time by text messaging "stop" to HOLMES.

Levit, a former Ohio State student, said he hopes the system will be a valuable resource for students.

"There is nothing else out there at the moment," he said. "It's the best thing next to knocking on doors."