This app was created by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Lambeth Interactive Qualifying Project Team in spring 2017. Its intent is to serve as an example of possible ways the Lambeth Council could integrate smart city technology into both their current parking system and other systems throughout the Borough. As it is an example, all numbers are entirely fictitious, and geographical data may not be completely accurate. This app is comprised of 3 modes: 1) a user mode for car users, 2) an administrator mode for the Council, and 3) an edit mode for development and demonstration. This page provides instructions for the use of each mode and how this could impact the Lambeth Council.
In every mode, the app loads an interactive map of Lambeth using Google Maps and data concerning Lambeth's Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs). In this map, each CPZ is highlighted a certain colour ranging from green to red, indicating the probability of finding available parking in that zone. For example, a green zone is below parking capacity and has ample available parking, while a red zone is at capacity and has very scarce available parking. Specific parking location data was added to the north-most two CPZs (Waterloo and Kennington). When zooming in on these zones, the application removes the zone highlighting to colourize individual roads that are associated with Council parking locations. The app highlights these roads similar to zones, showing areas with available parking in green and areas without available parking in red, with a continuous colour gradient in between. This highlighting is based on the ratio of the number of cars currently parked in a given location to an estimated capacity, which is set by the Council.
When a user parks in a given location, the occupancy of that location increases, decreasing the location's availability, therefore changing the colour. In all modes, moussing over a CPZ displays information in the interface section on the left. A user can select a CPZ by clicking on it when zoomed out. Similarly, clicking on a highlighted road selects the corresponding parking location when zoomed in. Once selected, users can interface with the zone or location depending on the current mode. Additionally, each mode offers the ability to show pay and display machines when zoomed in and to keep zone highlighting when zoomed in.
User mode is designed for car users. Selecting zones and locations allows users to view parking prices in the
Borough and determine areas of available parking. The Emissions Band field in the user's interface
identifies the emissions level of the user's car. In a full implementation, this would be linked to the user's
registration number. When a user selects a parking location using either the map or the selection box and indicates the length of their stay,
they may click the Start Parking button to begin parking in that location. When this occurs, a signal
is sent to the server, indicating that a new car is parked in the given location. The server then updates
its records and updates all connected users in real time. This causes the colour of the given location to
change, indicating that there is less available parking. The car user is shown a timer indicating the time
remaining in their stay. At any time, they can choose to top off or stop parking. When a user
runs out of time or decides to stop parking, the server is updated again, this time signalling that a car
has left the given parking location.
Administrator mode is designed for use by the Council to set prices and other parking properties in real time. When a zone is selected, administrators can edit various pricing options. An administrator may set two emissions-based prices: one for Band 1 vehicles (with the lowest emissions) and one for Band 6 vehicles (with the highest emissions). Vehicles in these bands will be charged these values, while vehicles in intermediate bands will be charged an amount representing a linear interpolation between these two values according to their band number.
Additionally, an administrator may alter an occupancy multiplier for each zone. A zone’s occupancy multiplier is a number greater than or equal to one, indicating how much the price of a parking location increases as it becomes closer to filling its capacity. An occupancy multiplier of 1 indicates no change in price as the location fills up, while an occupancy multiplier greater than one indicates that the price will be increased by a factor of that number at full capacity.
When an administrator selects a parking location, however, the app provides options to alter the location’s capacity, while the ability to change prices is removed. This allows the Council to alter capacities to more accurately represent parking in the Borough. When an administrator makes any edits to prices or capacities, all connected clients are updated in real time.
Edit mode serves both as an interface to simulate large changes in the Borough and a tool to add new parking locations. The interface allows the user to control both the capacity and occupancy of both single parking locations and entire zones. Selecting a parking location, the user can change the capacity and occupancy at will. This can show how a street changes color when more individuals park on it. When a parking zone without location data is selected (all except for Waterloo and Kennington), changing these values simply changes the properties of the selected zone. However, when altering the capacity or occupancy of zones with location data, the parking locations within the zone are changed to accommodate the requested values. This proves very useful for demonstrating concurrent changes in more than one parking location. Additionally, this mode provides an option to randomize all street-level parking data.
Edit mode can also be used to create new parking locations. Selecting the line tool at the top center
of the map allows the user to draw lines on streets. Clicking on a position creates a point of a path
at the clicked location. When the path is finished, the user can click in the last point a second time
to complete the segment. The path then snaps to the road system on the map. When the user is finished
adding road segments, clicking the Add Path button shows a dialog allowing the user to
input data about the new location, including its location number, name, and parking zone. When finished,
the points in each path are compiled and presented in the interface in GeoJSON format. The user may then
copy and paste this data to extend the current application.