Transportation Department Rolls Out an Interactive Map

Even though the first day of spring is behind us, the Transportation Department is already thinking about and planning for the upcoming fall semester.  This includes updating the website and all communications that are sent out about permit sales.  This is when Caitlyn Blakelock, Parking Services Manager, had an idea about information to send to each permit holder with their purchase confirmation.  “We would send them this [campus map] and they would say I don’t know where my permit type is,” she said.  “These students were having a lot of difficulty looking through that campus map and decoding all the different colors and pictures and shortened permit type abbreviations.”

Caitlyn also had our website in mind when she thought about the different maps for each permit type.  “I always thought it was strange that we would link to the campus map next to the permit type,” she said.  “It seemed to me that we should be linking to something that specifically showed where that specific permit type was valid.”

This is when she contacted Dave Hammermann, Geographic Information System (GIS) Coordinator, about creating a map for each permit type to send to the permit holders.  “Caitlyn asked me to come up with a bunch of printed maps for each type of permit,” he said.  “While working on that I was like this kind of ridiculous…[because] there’s like 29 unique permits.”  He then mentioned that he had been working on a parking app for staff and students to use that could replace these individual maps.  

After receiving the link to the app and reviewing it with her team, Caitlyn sent the feedback along with the necessary information to Dave to finalize the app.  He said, “She gave me a spreadsheet that said what each permit type is and where they can park.  I took that and built a database out of it and started adding all our parking lots into it and coding them.”   

The map is really easy to use.  You have 3 categories to choose from, student, employee, and other.  Within each category is a list of the permits available.  Click on the permit you want to view and the map will highlight all the lots that specific permit can park in.  If you’re not sure which category a specific permit falls under or just want to see a listing of all the permits, that option is available as well.  “The key features were definitely that the map does not just show the spaces that are specifically designated to that permit type.  For example, …I didn’t want it to just show the “B” spaces.  I wanted it to show every space on campus where the “B” permit can park,” said Caitlyn.

You can also use it to find parking lots near a specific location.  Dave said that “It works with any address on campus.  If you know your address, …[and] you know what permit level you have, …it’ll find you the closest lot to wherever that address point is.”  For example, “If you’re a guest lecturer or something and they give you a temporary “B” permit, you can punch in the address and it will show you where you can park near there,” he said.

When designing the app, Dave said that he primarily had students in mind.  “It works better on mobile, to tell you the truth,” he said.  “That’s what I did most of my testing on because I figured most of the students would use mobile walking around, driving around rather than on a desktop.”

The end result is the interactive parking map which you can use by visiting go.ncsu.edu/interactiveparkingmap.  You can also view the step-by-step guide on how to use the map.  “I’m hopeful that when we launch this interactive map that shows sort of the broader spectrum of where permits are valid other than just those designated lots, [and] that it will allow people to get better use and better mobility on campus out of their permit,” said Caitlyn.

A brief video about how to use the map can be found on our YouTube channel titled Transportation Interactive Parking Map.