Want to manage parking reservations? Don't have the resources to build expensive metering hardware to keep track of your parking lot status? Are customers leaving your parking lot frustrated that there are not spots available?
Have no fear. iPark is here to help! iPark is a proof of concept community based Android app that allows parking structure companies to set up automatic parking reservation for their users. Users can then reserve a parking spot through the app and the owners can rely on the community to ensure that users are following parking lot guidelines.
iPark was built from the ground up as a community based app. We wanted to create an intuitive way for users to quickly locate available parking spots in a busy community, while also incentivizing users to only park during their designated time.
How would we achieve this? The idea is actually quite simple. Customers always have to walk pass rows of cars on their way out of the parking lot. Why not have them spend that time helping security staffs check for who is parked illegally? Customers can report a vehicle and be rewarded for their good deed by the discretion of the parking lot owner (free parking lot hours in the future, etc).
Parking lot staffs can then give a citation or tow the illegally parked vehicle. Customers parking at the lot are now incentivize to leave on time. Customers coming in can have confidence that their reserved spot is available. Parking lot management can ensure that their parking lots are being operated at maximum utility. Customers are having a good experience. Management have their work cut out. It's a win win for everyone!
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Customers (Those who want to find parking)
- Parking Reservation
- Self parking reservation before arrival with automatic spot assignment
- Automatic parking re-assignment if a car is parked illegally in reserved spot
- Rate shown up front during reservation
- Early checkout, forfeiting remaining reservation time and re-adjusted fees (less)
- Automatic checkout upon end of reservation
- View history of past parking
- Community Features
- Easy access to map to see which spot should be available
- Ability to report users who are parked without a reservation
- Parking structure owner will incentivize those who report
- Can view history of reports and incentives
- Account Sign Up
- Easy in app account sign up
- Checks for valid information (user name, email, password)
- Password reset through email
- Other
- Can report of any emergencies
- Can receive notifications from parking lot management
- Parking Reservation
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Parking Lot Management
- Can see status of their parking lots using the same app
- Live map displaying status of parking lots
- Live notification of emergencies or illegal parkings
- Ability to change parking spot status (Owner Reserved, Available, Illegal, Taken)
- Ability to change parking lot pricing
- Can send out notifications to specific group(s)
- Can see past customer reviews
This walks through the steps of reserving a parking spot. It'll also highlight what will happens when a user tries to see reservation status before reserving, arriving at reservation and realizing parking spot is taken, as well as the reservation status and early check out page.
This shows the live map displayed on both the parking lot management's (left) and customer's (right) interface. Users can report a parking spot and it'll show up as a live notification for the parking management staffs. Security can then handle the situation and set the spot back to being available. They can also make a spot owner reserved. Other features highlighted will be price change, reviews, announcement, and emergency logs.
This app uses Firebase as the back end server. This allows for handling of account creation and authentication through Firebase. It also allows for user to easily reset passwords through their registered account email if they forget. All parking lot informations are stored in Firebase as well. This ensures that every user is getting reliable, live, parking lot information, allowing for a quick and seamless parking reservation experience.
This is a UCSD CSE 110 Software Engineering Project. Our group decided the main topic for our app and a client group was assigned to us based on their interest in our project. The project therefore consisted of two teams, the client and the developer team, and spanned the course of 10 weeks. We followed the agile development process in which the client and developer team would meet every week to discuss progress made on the app and adjust the course of the app to fit the client's changing needs and desires.