Smart parking
Finding parking in Pune means circling the block.
Role
Built the Flutter app, designed the screens, ran the survey and the pitch
Rounds
BookMySpot (2022), Parkir (2023)
Built with
Flutter; Firebase (2022); Node, MySQL and AWS (2023)
Result
2nd runner-up, MMCOE Smart City Hackathon (October 2022); Smart India Hackathon 2023 entry, with a testimonial from the RTO, Pune
Status
Shelved
The short version
Finding parking in Pune means circling the block. We built an app that shows free spots nearby, lets you book and pay for one, and gives the city a view of how its parking is used. It started as BookMySpot at a college hackathon in 2022, came back as Parkir for the Smart India Hackathon in 2023, and earned a letter from Pune’s Regional Transport Officer. It never became a service, and that is part of the story.
The problem
Drivers in Pune spend minutes circling for a spot, and every circling car adds to the traffic it is stuck in. Parking lots had no way to tell anyone they had space, and the city had no live picture of where parking was full and where it was empty.
Round one: BookMySpot, 2022
Four of us at VIIT built the first version for the MMCOE Smart City Hackathon: a Flutter app on Firebase with a map of parking near you, booking ahead, and paying in the app, plus a dashboard for the city. We placed 2nd runner-up in October 2022.
We had no sensors and no cameras, and we did not need them for a first version. Occupancy came from the app itself: a booking held a spot, checking in filled it, checking out freed it. It is only as good as the people using the app, which is exactly the problem GasView would later have to solve properly.
Round two: Parkir, 2023
In 2023 the Smart India Hackathon set a problem that was ours already: smart, real-time management of street parking (SIH1515, from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs). We came back as a team of six and rebuilt it as Parkir:
- Live availability across parking stations, so you see a free spot before you drive there.
- Pick your spot, book it, and pay by UPI. The app gives you a QR ticket to scan at the gate.
- Dynamic pricing that follows demand, so busy areas cost more and quiet lots fill up.
- A side for vendors, government and private, to put their parking on the app.
This time we went out before we built. We surveyed drivers and spoke with the traffic police about what they deal with every day, and we discussed the idea with the Additional Commissioner of the Pune Municipal Corporation.
My part
I built the Flutter app in both rounds, and in 2023 I designed Parkir’s screens. I also worked on the survey and the pitch: the conversations with the traffic police and the officials, and the presentation that put it all together.
What happened
Parkir did not win at the Smart India Hackathon. But the Regional Transport Officer, Pune, who saw it presented, wrote to the team:
“Your idea not only showcased a deep understanding of the problem but also offered a practical and scalable solution that can bring about significant positive change in our current traffic and parking management system.”
Regional Transport Officer, Pune, 28 September 2023
It never got funded, and it stopped there.
What I took from it
- Praise is not a plan. Officials liked it twice; nobody owned the next step, and neither did we.
- Talk to people before you build. The second round was better because we surveyed first.
- Data you collect from users is only as fresh as their habits. Three years later, GasView starts from that lesson.
Next case study
GasView
Which CNG station in Pune will actually fill the tank? An Android app that answers with live availability, queue length and pressure.