DCParkWise

DCParkWise – Find Free Street Parking in Washington, D.C. Instantly

Comment

Inspiration

The idea for DCParkWise came from the frequent frustrations experienced by drivers in D.C. who are unaware of free parking opportunities around them. Many drivers end up paying for garages or receiving tickets simply for stopping briefly in a metered zone. Apps like SpotHero and AngelSpots only highlight paid garages or lots, not real-time street-level information. We wanted to build a tool that empowers people with local knowledge, especially those who can’t afford repeated fines—like students or gig workers—by showing exact free parking windows directly on the map.

What it does

DCParkWise is a real-time, interactive street parking map built specifically for Washington, D.C.. It helps users—especially Uber drivers, DoorDash delivery workers, and local students—easily find free curbside parking zones in their vicinity. Instead of paying for garages or risking tickets, users can now view clearly marked green pins on a live map, click for detailed parking policies, and know exactly when and where free parking is allowed. This project is designed to reduce unnecessary parking fines and make street parking transparent and accessible.

How we built it

We started by integrating the Google Maps API to render the base map, then layered it with data pulled from the DC GIS Parking Meter API, which provides metadata like meter types, policy IDs, and descriptions. We built a custom parser to interpret complex parking policy strings and extract time-based rules (e.g., Mon–Fri 09:30AM–04:00PM), then we determined the "free" windows and visually highlighted those with custom map markers and stylized popups. The frontend is developed using Next.js and TypeScript, with hover-based UI/UX for modern interaction.

Challenges we ran into

One of the hardest parts of building DCParkWise was finding reliable, structured data about street parking policies in D.C. Although we came across government data portals, much of the data was unstructured or only provided meter-level details without clear free/paid status. We had to write logic to clean and parse confusing policy descriptions, such as extracting timings and associating them with coordinates. It took time to make sure the markers truly reflect real-world signs seen on streets—often requiring manual testing and validation.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

While apps like SpotHero or AngelSpots serve their purpose by directing users to the cheapest garages, they don't solve the fundamental issue of discovering nearby free parking on public streets. DCParkWise fills that gap by giving real-time, location-based insights into street parking laws—specifically showing when and where you can legally park for free. It’s a tool designed not to sell parking, but to help you avoid paying altogether.

What we learned

We deployed the project using Vercel, allowing for fast static deployment and API route support through serverless functions. The live version is available at: 🔗 https://dcparkwise.vercel.app

What's next for DCParkWise

In the future, we plan to transform DCParkWise into a fully community-powered parking assistant. We aim to build a crowdsourced review and update system where users can submit updates about temporary changes, holiday rules (like July 4th exceptions), or construction-related restrictions. This feedback will be verified via peer confirmation—if multiple users submit the same update, it gets auto-approved. We also envision integrating DCParkWise directly into navigation apps like Google Maps to suggest free street parking during trip planning, eliminating the need to switch between apps. Additionally, we’re exploring machine learning models to predict the likelihood of a spot being available based on time, day, and past user input.

Share this project:

Updates