With coronavirus spreading rapidly, it is imperative that we do our part in helping stop this spread. Social distancing is one of the main ways we can do so. While it’s simple to social distance physically when you’re at a grocery store or standing in line, it is hard when you’re trying to park. That’s why we created ParkPass, a simple easy-to-use android app that lets you know how much parking space is available at your preferred destination. ParkPass helps you do your part in stopping the spread of COVID-19.

ParkPass takes the destination address from the user and then locates nearby parking lots and their current vacancy. The user can also set certain preferences, such as the wanted vacancy percentage, and the distance from the lot to the destination. It then directs the user to the parking lots and registers their position as they park, taking note that another space has been filled. In the event that a parking lot has a sudden influx and there are few spaces left, the app will redirect the user to the next nearest lot.

We build the app through Android Studio and also used Figma and Canva for graphic and UI design.

It was challenging to find an API that would provide us with the information we wanted, i.e. the parking lot locations and capacity in real-time, and was also readily available to us. In the hackathon time frame, we were unable to receive an API key for the app. In addition, some team members encountered a learning curve as they were not experienced in Android Studio. Lastly, we went back and forth deciding if we wanted to implement our own database, but in the end, we did not due to the time constraint.

An accomplishment that we were proud of was integrating our map and preferences into the same screen so you could see it in real-time. Additionally, we are proud to offer a solution during the pandemic that will help people in their everyday lives to social distance and stay safe.

For some team members, it was their first time using Android Studio, which was a great learning experience.

We hope to integrate more user preference options into the app, like hours of operations. In addition, we would like to create a "Past Locations" feature which would track the user's past destinations and their associated parking spaces. Some other features we are looking into include creating a local map service, instead of pulling from a third party, and utilizing the tracking capabilities of the app to count people in-store in real-time.

Ali Aftab, Muhammad Jayanti Upadhyay Camila Izquierdo