Park A2 | Devpost

Inspiration

Like many other Ann Arbor residents, we have experienced the frustrations of trying to find a parking spot on a busy day. Sometimes, the process of finding one can take longer than the commute itself. Permanent and non-permanent residents can all agree that finding street and garage parking is often frustrating, inconvenient, and expensive. This is why we created our app: to bring all parking data onto the user's screen, and to allow them to interact and find an open spot with as little headache as possible.

What it does

The app takes information from the Ann Arbor parking availability in garages, or anywhere that Ann Arbor makes the number of open parking spaces publicly available. It then displays the information in markers colored according to the number of open spaces, so that the user can at a glance understand which area of the city will have more parking. Additionally, the prices are presented next to the number of spots. The structures include large parking garages, parking lots, and free park & ride locations. Street parking is also visible, and we have colored the streets to demonstrate that with more information from the city's parking vendor, users will be able to see where street parking is more open.

How we built it

We used a Flutter app and coded in Dart. We used Android Studio and XCode simulators to write and debug the code. We shared via GitHub, and worked collaboratively to use Dart and the Flutter platform to create a convenient map layout with the Google Maps API.

Challenges we ran into

We had a lot of difficulty adjusting to the Dart language, since none of us had worked in it before, or even in a similar language. We had to essentially teach ourselves the ropes of a completely new coding style. Some of the functions were asynchronous and involved the Future functionality. These unfamiliar structures were necessary to complete the project, but they gave us a lot of difficulty along the way, especially with importing data from Future functions.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were able to make a convenient, fluid, and most importantly, operational app with no past experience in the language in 24 hours. We were able to push through bugs at 4:45 in the morning that we thought we might not get past. We stayed the entire night, and learned an immense amount about what it's like to code a complex, interactive app, and to research new coding on the spot.

What we learned

We learned a lot about the Flutter platform, and a whole lot about the Dart language. We also gained valuable experience in what it's like to code under a very short term time limit, and to have to research an area we're unfamiliar with to complete a project. We learned about the Hackathon community and environment as a whole, as this was the first Hackathon any of us had participated in. We learned to trust ourselves to figure out the problems that we face, and to keep pushing when we hit a wall.

What's next for Park A2

With more information from the city, we will be able to let users see where on-street parking is available, as well as the availabilities in metered lots. This app definitely has the potential to help Ann Arbor become more convenient for commuters, visitors, and residents.