City of Perth Parking Custom Drupal Website and Mobile Application Solution

The City of Perth Parking division required a sophisticated website and mobile app solution that would provide real time parking information to Perth City visitors.

The first step is always a consultation process with stakeholders. Consultations with City of Perth Parking revealed the systems in use at the time and the shortcomings; The needs of the people visiting the City of Perth who would benefit from a real-time parking solution. Such as information about opening times and car park fees, special event information and information about public holidays; and the future aspirations of the parking division.

With a thorough understanding of requirements, IBC could then research solutions and begin planning the custom Drupal website and mobile application that would allow Perth visitors to include parking in their planning. For example, using the City of Perth website and /or app, visitors could find appropriate parking spaces within a certain distance from their destination. During special events, information on road closures or extra parking availability is included for planning purposes. This solution eliminates the need for visitors to drive around different car park options to try and find a space as the information is provided in real time.

The custom website design is modern, fresh, mobile responsive and on brand. The navigation is intuitive and guides the user through the minimal number of steps to find the information they need to plan their journey. The City of Perth Parking Drupal solution is WCAG 2.0 AA compliant and has custom modules with Google map integration. The custom modules include the car park finder and the car park details pages.

The search was created with a destination focus. Users search where they want to go and the map and car park listing will be ordered by the closest car parks, also showing the distance between the car park and the venue.

IBC Digital introduced the car park filter widget meaning users can be sure they can only find car parks that were suitable to their needs or vehicle, such as the Max Vehicle Height filter or ensuring the car park is undercover.

The mobile application is consistently designed with the website and includes an intuitive custom designed interface and tight integration with Universal Google Analytics. The mobile app is integrated with data from the website utilising JSON Web Services to provide among other things, real-time car park availability data, and latest news.

The mobile app was developed to work on iOS iPad and iPhone’s as well as modern Android devices, and includes features additional to the website such as:

Vehicle Locator: pin the location of your car so you can find it later

Expiry Timer: a reminder service to alert you when your ticket is about to run out

Closest to me: a simple way to find the closest car park to your current location

Favourite Car Park: easy to find your most often used car parks

The website receives a high volume of traffic so to ensure the website application remains responsive and functional, IBC has utilised a number of techniques that include web server configuration and database configuration. Configuration is based on an understanding of; the expected usage of the site and outlying request sizes; the size and number of static files; performance of the dynamic code such as custom modules and Drupal setting configurations. IBC utilises caching techniques such as Memcache to reduce the database load.

IBC migrated the website and application from the testing environment into City of Perth’s live hosting environment and assisted with ongoing testing, while working within the IT department’s expected Change Management Process.

City of Perth have purchased a service plan to make it easier for IBC and the City of Perth parking to work together with ongoing maintenance and enhancements.

Future projects could include any required enhancements to the City of Perth Parking website and mobile applications, as well as the potential to integrate with a rechargeable Parking Card. We look forward to maintaining and enhancing the City of Perth Parking online solution long term.