BC Parking Sign Interpreter

A portfolio-ready React + TypeScript MVP that helps users understand sample parking sign wording in plain English. The app is intentionally frontend-only and uses deterministic rule-based parsing instead of APIs, OCR, or cloud services.

Problem Solved

Parking signs can be compact, fragmented, and stressful to interpret quickly. This project demonstrates how a civic-tech interface can reduce confusion by translating common sign wording into structured guidance while clearly surfacing uncertainty.

Features

• Paste parking sign wording into a text box
• Interpret sign text with a deterministic rule engine
• View structured outputs for:
  • Plain-English Summary
  • Can I Park Here?
  • Time Restrictions
  • Permit / Zone Rules
  • Warnings / Unclear Details
• Try fake demo samples:
  • 3-hour parking
  • No stopping
  • Residential permit only
  • Paid parking
• Detects common rules and keywords, including no stopping, no parking, 3 hour, resident permit, except, Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun, time ranges, pay parking, and loading zone
• Includes a clear legal disclaimer
• Homepage case-study section for portfolio storytelling

Tech Stack

• Vite
• React
• TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS
• lucide-react

How to Run

npm install
npm run dev

For a production build:

npm run build

For TypeScript checks:

npm run typecheck

Screenshots

Homepage	Results

Screenshots are stored in docs/screenshots/.

Future Improvements

• OCR for real parking sign photos
• Location-aware parking rules and official bylaw links
• Jurisdiction-specific rule packs for BC municipalities
• Confidence scoring for each interpretation
• Multilingual plain-English summaries
• Map context and nearby zone lookup
• Larger parsing test suite with edge cases

Disclaimer

This tool is for guidance only and is not legal advice.