What does a municipal mobile app present to residents?
Every city and state should develop an application that keeps in mind residents’ needs. Let’s take a look at the most common capabilities such applications provide.
Reporting city problems. Almost every city resident has encountered illegal graffiti or noisy neighbors. To solve such problems, Seattle has provided the ability to report urban issues using a municipal application. Users can take a photo of an illegal incident, write additional information, and mark the location of the incident on the map.
View planned sanitation events. New York City has launched the DSNY Info app for smartphones and tablets that allows users to view upcoming events such as cockroach baiting and water shutdowns. With this app, users can set a reminder so they don’t forget there are special jobs planned in their area or building.
View public transport timetables. There’s no need to stand at a bus stop while waiting for a bus with a varying schedule. Using an app like SF Muni Bus in San Francisco, a user can easily view a list of stops, build routes, and find out the exact time when public transportation will arrive.
Get driving directions. Routing functionality is relevant not only for locals but also for tourists. The City of Columbus, Ohio, has successfully implemented this functionality in its municipal app. Drivers can enter an address and the application builds the best route from point A to point B, taking into account traffic jams. What’s more, the app shows toll roads if the driver takes a long journey through Ohio.
In addition to these features, municipal apps let users monitor city news, view the weather, and find a city government job, as the City of Sparks app does.
As you can see, municipal applications can solve many everyday problems of residents. Parking problems can also be successfully solved with the help of such an application. But after examining a number of municipal mobile applications, we found that many municipalities haven’t yet implemented functionality to solve parking problems.