ChicagoCurb

Chicago's parking rules on one map: permit zones, meters and street sweeping by block, with a reminder the night before the sweeper comes.

Comment

Status: ChicagoCurb 1.0 is in final App Review, resubmitted Sep 26 after Apple's information request. The App Store link goes live on approval.

Inspiration

Built from the turmoil of finding non-permit parking near my new apartment; what started as Google Street View crawls turned into City of Chicago permit data and multiple layers of refinement based on feedback from friends, family, and peers.

What it does

Shows permit parking, paid parking, & street sweeping in Chicago; reminder for street sweeping so you can avoid a ticket. The only purchase is an optional $2.99 tip through the RevenueCat SDK.

How we built it

Ingested data is normalized against py stack (GeoPandas, Shapely), MapLibre GL for renderings. Hosted via Cloudflare, Github actions to keep data up to par. Iterative work with real iteration ie: is X street sweeping actually occurring today (visual review), reviewing street sweeping schedule change via City of Chicago website, etc.

Challenges we ran into

Inaccurate data. The permit segments (data) from City of Chicago are often more aggressive than reality; segments were on main streets & existed in spaces they did not. Implementing paid parking segments helped curb these falsehoods ie: if paid segment (metered parking), it is likely not permit parking. By further reducing line segment distance, I was able to paint a more accurate picture of where permit/paid segments are!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Making an accurate, functional app. People coming to me and letting me know they were able to find parking, being able to know when street sweeping occurs. I feel great pride knowing what I set out to do made the lives of others easier; I hope to make a greater impact.

What we learned

a lot - the inaccuracy of provided data, how to QC said data (in-person + via tooling), covering gaps (where data sources are accurate but fail to complete the whole story), API toolings ie: Google Streetview API, Claude API (vision), Github actions for data refresh / automation, iteration, & generally how to move faster.

What's next for ChicagoCurb

Polish + advertising; of course, there are some bugs, segments that need adjustment, and features to be added. None of this matters if no one uses the app and benefits. I built this with someone in mind, another someone might have the same issue(s) and benefit.

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