Parking At UCFSolving the parking problems on the UCF campus

Adam Levy, Blair Daly, Ian Burch, Jake KayProfessor Cassandra Branham

ENC 3241

Table of ContentsParking At UCF.............................................................................................................................................1

Table of Contents...........................................................................................................................................2

List of Illustrations.........................................................................................................................................3

Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................................4

Introduction....................................................................................................................................................6

Problem..........................................................................................................................................................6

Research.........................................................................................................................................................7

Sensors.......................................................................................................................................................7

Previous Successes.....................................................................................................................................9

Student Survey...........................................................................................................................................9

Proposed Solutions......................................................................................................................................10

A. Build Another Parking Garage............................................................................................................10

B. Implement a Seniority System for Parking.........................................................................................10

C. Limit Parking for Students Living on Campus...................................................................................11

Pros/Cons of Proposed Solutions.................................................................................................................11

A. Build Another Parking Garage............................................................................................................11

B. Implement a Seniority System for Parking.........................................................................................12

C. Limit Parking for Students Living on Campus...................................................................................13

Recommended Solution...............................................................................................................................13

Recommended Solution: Parking Spot Sensors Accompanied By a Phone Application........................13

Pros and Cons of Recommended Solution...............................................................................................14

Why Our Application Solution is the Best Solution................................................................................15

Schedule.......................................................................................................................................................15

E-mails with Parking Administration:.....................................................................................................15

Attendance Survey Results:.....................................................................................................................17

Final Schedule Plan..................................................................................................................................18

Costs.............................................................................................................................................................18

Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................................19

List of Illustrations

Figure 1: Infrared light produced by the sun 6 Figure 2: Structure of an electromagnetic sensor 7 Figure 3: Semester attendance survey results 17 Figure 4: Possible app layout 19

Executive Summary

The parking garage system used at UCF as it currently stands could benefit from some improvement. The amount of spaces at some of the more popular garages often do not meet the demands of the student body during peak class times, such as the classes around midday. Students who commute to class from off campus rely on those structures to have easy to find spaces open in order to be on time for class. As they currently stand, students often do not have enough information when they drive to class and attempt to use the parking garages. During midday class times, when the on-campus student population is at its peak, it could easily take a student who tries to park in a garage that is close to his class up to 30 minutes to find a parking spot. With a very large 1,415-acre campus, taking the time to find a parking spot that is close to class but normally very crowded is a better option than a far away, empty one for getting to class on time. A student who takes that time and is still late to her class would still normally arrive earlier than she would have picking the further spot. There is a direct correlation between students who are chronically late to class and their overall performance in that class. This is due to students missing out on important coursework while trying to find a parking spot, or not being able to get in the door before they are closed for an exam. Even though being on time is important to the students who drive themselves to class, they still often run into not being able to find a parking spot. We have found that this is due to a number of reasons:

Insufficient information conveyed by the signs standing outside the garage Lack of total spaces available in some of the more popular garages Drivers who don’t use a permit/day pass when parking and subsequently unaccounted for when

taking metrics for driving students

We came up with a few possible solutions that would cut down on the congestion and lack of available open spaces in the garages. They are as follows:

Build a new, larger parking garage to handle the excess population Restrict the amount of permits that could be purchased using a seniority system Limit the amount of spaces that are available to students living on campus. Install sensors in the garages and design a smartphone app to deliver the information provided by

the sensors to the students driving to class.

The benefits and drawbacks of each solution were then researched. We found that the cost and the logistics of building a new garage were too prohibitive to consider feasible. Cost was also a factor in deciding against the seniority system for permits. While the system would encourage new students to move on-campus, the revenue lost in overall permit sales would be a problem. Limiting the amount of spaces to students living on campus was an attractive solution, but we decided it would cause more stress than it would be worth in complaints from the newly segregated student body. After our research, the smartphone app came with the best benefits. It would cost less to install the sensors than it would a new garage ($14 million for a new garage and $50 thousand for a sensor/app setup). We also know extra revenue in parking decals would be generated due to a survey we conducted.

We held a survey asking student body their opinion and found that around 17% of students that commute from off campus use alternate methods of transport, such as the bus system. We also found that

over half the students that drive make plans to arrive on campus 30 minutes before class or earlier. With the idea of using a smartphone app to better convey parking availability to the students in mind when conducting the survey, we also found that a majority of the students surveyed believe that such a smartphone app would help alleviate the parking problem.

The survey also gave us information on when the project should move forward. All of the students surveyed attend class during the fall and spring semesters, but over 90% do not attend class during the start of the summer semesters. Our proposed schedule would start app development during the upcoming spring semester. At the start of the Summer A semester, sensor integration on the first structure to be converted would begin. The parking garage should be completed and ready for reopening by July, and the app would be complete (tested and ready for distribution) by the end of the month for the students attending the fall semester.

The costs involved in setting up the sensors were also researched. After deciding that a photo electric sensor was most cost efficient at $2.00 per sensor, we found that in total it would take about $20 thousand for installation and app design, and around $2 thousand per year for upkeep in server and physical maintenance. Some of the finance information was unavailable to us during our research, such as preferred contractors and any of the final prices UCF would be required to pay, so these prices are estimated with the highest possible price in mind.

Introduction

The topic of this report is proposing a solution for the parking issues that plague UCF’s garages. We have identified a number of solutions that could greatly improve the quality of the parking system. Students often have difficulties finding optimal spaces within the garages and can cause themselves to be late trying to locate one. We have identified a number of reasons that the students are having these problems. Students are generally unable to gauge the parking availability from the outside of the garage, as the signs indicating whether or not the garage is filled are unreliable. As a result, this creates an atmosphere amongst students riddled with frustration and sometimes ends up mocking the school itself.

The parking garages at UCF are relied upon by a majority of the student body. Due to the size of the campus, an efficient parking space can be the difference between being on time or late to a class. So much so that often checking each space in a garage is preferable to picking another lot further away. In addition, the signs that currently sit outside of the structures do not convey enough information to the students that are looking for a garage to choose. This generally forces students to take the risk that the garage actually is open. The garages need an improvement so students do not have to leave earlier than is reasonable or take a gamble to find a place to park.

We have identified a number of solutions that can be taken to improve the experience students have with the parking system. This report will first delve deeper into the problem and highlight the severity of the situation. It will then lay out the research that we have looked into, including outlining a survey we conducted about the current state of the parking system. After, we will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the various possible solutions we found, and recommending a specific one above the rest. Using that recommended solution, a schedule and the predicted cost to implement the solution will be explored and explained.

Problem

The general issue of being unable to find parking spaces at UCF is important for a number of reasons. The biggest concern for students is that they will be unable to find an available parking spot in the parking garage or parking lot of their choice. This may cause the students to be late for class, resulting in missing their deadlines or even missing their exams. In this way, the parking problem can negatively impact students’ GPAs. Lower GPAs can be bad for the school too because it could result in a decrease of funding from the government and other donors. The school can lose money over the parking problem in other ways too.

Some of the students at UCF are so frustrated by the difficulty of finding a free parking space that they refrain from purchasing a parking permit altogether. These students elect to take alternative methods of transportation such as walking, bicycling, or riding the bus. According to a survey we conducted, 17.65% of students who live outside of campus ride a bus to school. If a new technology were to improve the parking problem, it should lead to some of the lost customers coming back for a new parking permit.

Additionally, the problem of finding parking spaces on campus can lead to dangerous situations. If a student who is late for class cannot find parking, he or she is more likely to rush. A rushing driver is a hazard to themselves as well as those around them. A rushed driver is more likely to speed, go around corners too quickly, forget to turn on their headlights in the dark garages, neglect to use turn signals, and much more. Nobody wants to see a pedestrian get hit by a car, and the school especially wants to avoid bad publicity.

We found a number of reasons that students have these troubles finding parking spaces. the more popular parking garages simply don’t have the capacity to handle the amount of students during midday, when attendance is at its peak. In addition, in spite of the threat of parking tickets, there are still drivers who park in the garages without a permit or a daily pass. Along with taking up the spots reserved for paying students, these unauthorized vehicles also are not taken into consideration when UCF Parking Services counts how many students drive to class. Thirdly, students do not get enough information about any potential difficulties in finding a spot before they actually drive into the garage and see for themselves. The signs that stand outside of each garage and indicate whether or not the structure is full are generally unhelpful as they are now. Putting aside the fact that the signs have been completely wrong before, the binary “open” or “full” status they use now is generally unhelpful to students. The signs would be much more effective if they gave more information to students.

Research

Sensors

There are many different types of sensors that could be used for car-detection. Each type presents its own set of advantages and disadvantages. At first, electromagnetic sensors appeared to be best suited for our purposes, but after looking further into installation and cost, it is our assessment that a photoelectric sensor would work best.

Photoelectric sensors have three main components: a light source, a light receiver, and a circuit that processes the signals. In order to avoid interference from other light sources, the light source on the sensor is usually made to be infrared. While it’s true that the sun emits infrared light, not all of it gets through earth’s atmosphere. By selecting a light bulb that emits a specific frequency of infrared light, we can avoid the problem of interference from sunlight. There are two types of photoelectric sensors that could be used for our application: beam-breaking, and beam-reflection. With the first option, each parking spot would require two sensors, and the car would have to park between them to break the beam of light. This option is more costly and presents twice as much potential for sensor-damage

Figure 1: Infrared light produced by the sun

since there are twice as many components. In the second option, beam-reflection, the light source and light receiver can be combined onto a single unit. This would reduce installation and maintenance costs. When a car drives near the sensor, it reflects some of the infrared light back at the sensor, which is detected by the infrared receiver. An additional advantage of the light-reflection type of photoelectric sensor is that it can discriminate between highly reflective surfaces, such as the body of a car, and light-absorbing surfaces, such as the clothing of a student who is walking through the parking spot.

Electromagnetic sensors use a magnetic field to detect the presence of nearby metallic objects. When a metallic object enters the sensor’s electromagnetic field the flow of electricity through the sensor’s wires is altered. This electrical change is then detected by a computer. This type of sensor sounds good in theory because it would allow the parking sensors to discriminate easily between vehicles and anything else that might happen to be in or near the parking spaces. However, upon further research, it became

apparent that the size of an electromagnetic sensor capable of detecting a car was quite large, and would have to be installed beneath the parking space. Cutting up all of this concrete would add immensely to the installation time and costs of the project. Additionally, since the sensor itself is much larger, the material cost of each sensor would be much higher than that of the photoelectric sensor.

A kinetic sensor is essentially a button. When something presses up against a kinetic sensor, the sensor

tells the system that it is being pressed. This may seem like a straightforward, low tech, and low-cost solution, but there are some major issues with using this type of sensor for our purposes. First, there is the issue of where to place the sensor. You could place the sensor at bumper-level on the wall in front of the parking spaces, but bumper height varies from car to car, and people generally don’t want to get that close to the wall. The only part of a car that reliably makes contact with any part of the garage are its tires. Again though, the position of the tires within the parking space is too inconsistent. We could try to compensate for this variability by enlarging the button’s surface area, but that would increase the cost of each sensor unit and complicate installation. Even if all of these shortcomings could be overcome, most buttons are not made to withstand the weight of a car. A specialty sensor would be required, which would add immensely to the cost.

A laser range finder, also known as ladar or lidar, uses a laser to measure the distance between itself and whatever object is directly in front of it. The lidar does this by sending out short pulses of laser light and then measures the time it takes for those pulses to be reflected back into the sensor. For our purposes, the lidar could be mounted above a parking space aimed downward. This is good because it can stay out of harm’s way. When no car is present, the lidar would read the distance to the floor of the garage. When a car parks in that spot, the lidar would read the distance from itself to the roof of the car. Whenever the

Figure 2: Structure of an electromagnetic sensor

sensor network’s computer read a sustained change in a lidar’s distance, it would update the status of that parking spot. Unfortunately, this type of sensor is very expensive when compared to other solutions such as the photoelectric sensor. There is also a potential radiation hazard inherent whenever lasers are involved. If the sensors were somehow damaged, it could cause an unsafe leak of radiation.

Weight sensors measure the compression of materials inside the sensor to determine the amount of weight that is on top of the sensor. Our application would require a special type of heavy duty weight sensor that could withstand the weight of a car, which would be expensive. Additionally, the sensor would have to be buried underneath the parking space, requiring a large portion of the concrete to be cut out and removed. This adds immensely to the installation costs.

Previous Successes

Streetline Inc. is a company that is making a business out of parking sensor technology. Their iPhone app, Parker, shows its users where available parking spots are in real-time for select locations. The company has installed parking sensor networks in Birmingham, UK; Capitola, CA; Clemson University; Ellicott City, MD; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Hollywood; Indianapolis, IN; Jacksonville, FL; Los Angeles, CA; New York City - The Bronx, Roosevelt Island; New Brunswick, NJ; Oregon State University; Redwood City, CA; Reno, NV; San Carlos, CA; San Mateo, CA; San Francisco; Studio City, CA; University of Maryland, College Park; Vancouver, WA; Venice Beach, CA; and Washington D.C. The App features an easy-to navigate map interface which overlays parking data onto regular street maps. According to the company, they place their patented sensors in each parking space which then transmit data to various cloud-based applications. Streetline Inc. plans to partner with car manufacturers to make their solution accessible right from the driver’s seat.

Student Survey

We conducted a survey of students who attend school at UCF. The survey asked questions relating to students’ use of parking at UCF and driving habits. The survey questions were:

1. “Do you drive to class or take the shuttle?”2. “If an App which showed each specific open space of each parking garage at UCF was developed

would you use it?”3. “If the App mentioned in the previous question was used around UCF do you think the

congestion around campus and within the garages would decrease?”4. “*IF YOU DO NOT BUY A PARKING DECAL* If the previously mentioned App was used

around UCF and traffic congestion was decreased all around campus would you be more inclined to buy a parking decal?”

5. “*IF YOU DRIVE TO CLASS* How far in advance do you plan to arrive to campus in order to find a parking spot?”

6. “Which semester are you not at UCF?”

There were a total of 19 respondents. Our findings were as follows: 15 of the 19 respondents said that they drive to school, while three said that they take the shuttle. 14 respondents said that they would use an App that showed the location specific available parking spots in real time. 12 of the respondents

thought that such an App would decrease traffic congestion in and around garages. Two out of the three respondents who did not currently own a parking permit said that they would be more inclined to buy a permit if such an App could decrease traffic congestion. 43 percent of respondents reported that they drive to school 15 minutes early just to find a parking spot. Another 43% of say they allot 30 minutes, while about 15% set aside 45 minutes or more. 93% of respondents will be absent from school during Summer semester A. 64% will be absent during Summer semester B, and 71% will be gone during Summer semester C.

Proposed Solutions

A. Build Another Parking Garage

A solution we have proposed to solve the problem of find parking on campus at UCF would be for the University to build another parking garage. Another parking garage would take at least some congestion away other parking garages and parking lots around the University. This new garage will help remove congestion from other parking areas on campus by giving students another option as to where they can park. Depending on the location of this new parking garage it would not only help remove traffic in the parking garages and parking lots but it would help remove congestion from the rest of campus as well (Gemini Boulevard). Gemini Boulevard, which has an outlet to every location on campus is usually filled with students who are trying to get a parking spot closest to their destination. Along with helping reduce traffic on campus and within the parking area’s adding a new parking garage would help greatly with safety on campus. Although this may seem like a very practical solution to improving the parking situation on campus, there are many reason as to why it would not be practical for UCF to build a new parking garage. Parking garages are not cheap and it would not be in the Universities best interest to be spending millions of dollars on one new parking garage. Building a parking garage requires a lot of empty land to build on top of, something UCF just does not have at this time. While UCF could level more wildlife area’s in order to build this new garage that would upset a lot of people a cost a lot of money.

B. Implement a Seniority System for Parking

Another solution we came up with to solve the problem of finding parking on campus at UCF would be to implement a seniority system for parking. This would mean that there would be an allotted number of parking passes for seniors, less for juniors, less for sophomores, and the least for freshman. This would help the parking problem at UCF because the campus would only be selling enough parking passes to ensure that there will not be the congestion that there usually is while trying to find parking. The seniority system would also entice more new students to apply for on campus living seeing that there could be a chance they would not be allowed to drive to class if they lived off campus. While this seems like an elegant solution to the parking problem at UCF there are many flaws with it. If UCF were to implement a seniority system and only sell a certain number of parking passes the university would lose money from the passes that would no longer be sold to younger students. The implementation of this seniority system would also likely lower the amount of potential students who apply to UCF.

C. Limit Parking for Students Living on Campus

A third solution we came up with to solve the problem of finding parking on campus at UCF would be to limit where students who live on-campus could park. As it stands there are already designated “orange” lots where only students who live on campus can park in. Not allowing these 12,000 on-campus students to park in the “green” lots on campus would help the congestion in parking garages and parking lots go down significantly. Although this may seem like the most cost efficient way to solve the parking problem around campus it would not hold over well with students living on campus. As well as a number of complaints, not allowing on-campus students to park on campus would result in a safety hazard for as many as 12,000 students who currently occupy UCF student housing.

Pros/Cons of Proposed Solutions

A. Build Another Parking Garage

Pros

One advantage to building another parking garage on campus would be the impact it would have on the congestion in the other parking garages and parking lots already on campus. A new parking garage would add roughly 1,080 parking spots. These new spaces would attract student who would usually be driving up and down other garages in hopes of finding a spot.

As well as removing congestion from the parking garages and parking lots already on campus adding a new parking garage would help decrease the overall traffic of the entire campus. A new parking garage would give students a new place to park that may be closer to their destination than where they previously would have parked. This would lead to a shorter travel time on campus which in turn would lead to less overall traffic.

As a direct effect of lightening the congestion on campus the overall safety of UCF students will be increased. Rather than having students drive recklessly speeding through garages, around corners, and parking lots just to find a spot to park students will instead be able to find parking spots easier. Not having students driving recklessly just to find a spot and make it to class on time makes the entire campus a safer place to drive.

Cons

A negative that would result from deciding to build a new parking garage on campus would be the cost. From the cost of a recently built garage on UCF’s campus a new garage would cost roughly $14 million. From recent spending reports it seems that UCF does not have the money to be spending on a new parking garage when there are many other more important things the University could get accomplished with that money.

Another negative towards building a new garage on campus would simply be the question of where to put it. As is most of UCF’s campus is already filled with either building or places to park. One solution would be to level off some of the wildlife land around the campus and build a new garage there. This would not only still leave the university with a huge bill but it would also anger many groups who have already voiced concern over UCF bulldozing wildlife in order to build new structures.

B. Implement a Seniority System for Parking

Pros

An advantage to implementing a seniority system to help with the parking problem at UCF would be that the parking garage and parking lot congestion around campus would virtually disappear. If the university decided to only sell enough passes to fill each spot on campus there would not be the issue of students not being able to find parking; instead students would be able to calmly find a parking spot at the location of their choice without incident.

As well as virtually getting rid of all parking congestion on campus, the seniority system for parking would give more new students incentive to live on campus. If parking passes were not guaranteed, more students would want to live on campus in order to get to class without worrying about how they would get on campus. The increase in student living would bring in more money to the university.

Cons

While it does seem like a good idea to implement a seniority system that only sells a certain amount of parking passes to fill each spot on campus this inevitably will lose the university an extremely large amount of money. Currently there are about 60,000 students who attend UCF and out of these 60,000 about 12,000 live on campus with a remaining 48,000 students who live off campus. From a survey we collected roughly 88% of students say they drive to campus rather than take the shuttle. This leaves about 42,000 students who drive to campus and only about 8,000 green parking spots(spots designated for student drivers). Each parking pass current goes for $95.88 and if UCF were to only sell parking passes to fill these 8,000 spots the university would lose out on roughly $3.25 million that they currently make by overselling these parking permits. Losing out on an extremely large amount of money each year just to silence of the complaints of its students does not seem like it is in the best interest of the university.

Along with losing the university a large amount of money on just parking pass sales the university could expect to see a decrease in the amount of students who apply if they decided to implement a seniority system. UCF is not the traditional old style campus as UF is where even if you live “off campus” you can still walk to your class in 5 minutes. Students you live off campus at UCF consider a 5-10 minute drive to campus close. If potential applicants know that they are not guaranteed a parking permit they would be less likely to enroll at UCF knowing that they may not have a way to get to campus for their classes. The decrease in applicants would not be in the

universities favor and would result in the decrease in national recognition and ultimately a decrease in the level of education in order to fill enrollment requirements.

C. Limit Parking for Students Living on Campus

Pros

An advantage to limiting parking for students who live on campus is that it would take nearly 12,000 students who current live on campus and have access to the “green” garages and lots out of these parking areas. These parking areas will then be solely for students who live off campus and drive to school. Taking nearly a fourth of all students who park in these “green” areas will drastically decrease the congestion within the parking areas and make the process of finding a spot to park when entering campus a lot easier.

Cons

While in theory it seems very practical to limit where students who already live on campus can park while they are on campus, in practice it would not work. A parking permit for students who live on campus costs $95.88, which is the same price students who live off campus pay. If the university were to limit where these student can park UCF would receive a large number of complaints from these students and their families. These students will be arguing that they pay the same amount as every other student for their permit yet they would have access to fewer areas on campus.

Seeing that we go to school in Florida, among the list of complaints these students would have would be what students who live on campus would do during a lightning storm. Of course students are not expected to walk across campus while it’s lightning outside. If UCF did limit parking for students who live on campus, these student would have to choose between receiving a parking ticket for driving to class or walking in a thunderstorm to class. This would present a huge safety hazard for students that could potentially result in a lawsuit against the university.

Recommended Solution

Recommended Solution: Parking Spot Sensors Accompanied By a Phone Application

The solution we deemed to be most fit to fulfill all of UCF’s needs while still solving the problem of finding parking on campus is to create a phone application, which contains a live updating model of each floor of each parking garage at UCF. The model would essentially be an exact replica of the floor you choose to look at filled with green spots(open parking spots) and red spots(filled parking spots). Each spot within these parking garages will be fitted with a sensor which, when a car is detected, will update the application. As well, when a car leaves its spot, the application will also be updated. Students will be able to use this application to pinpoint the exact floor and spot they are going to park in when they get to

campus rather than blindly driving up and down garages in hopes of finding an open spot. Although using your phone while driving is illegal we have come up with solutions to solve this issue.

Pros and Cons of Recommended Solution

Pros

One advantage to creating an application to help remove congestion from UCF parking garages would be the cost of the entire project. Rather than spending somewhere in the range of $14 million for a new garage we have estimated that our application, after all costs, would run the university about $50,000. This saves the university nearly the entire price of a parking garage while still solving the problem of finding a parking spot on campus. This application would save the university an extremely large amount of money compared to any other type of “solution” to the parking problem at UCF.

As well as removing the cost of other “solutions” to the problem of finding parking at UCF our application will actually bring more revenue into the university. After conducting a survey it was found that 2 out of every 3 people who do not buy a parking decal due to parking congestion would be more inclined to purchase a parking decal if this application was implemented around campus. This would mean 67% of people who currently do not buy parking decals would pay the $95.88 per decal to park on campus.

Along with increasing parking decal sales for the university our application would also help remove congestion from not only the parking garages but all of campus as well. A survey we conducted found that 43% of students said they plan to arrive to campus at 15 minutes before their class starts just to find a parking spot. Another 43% of students plan to arrive 30 minutes early to campus just to find a spot. 14% of students said they plan to arrive to campus 45 minutes in advance just to make sure they get a parking spot before class begins. This means that for as much as 45 minutes before the students need to be on campus for class they are driving in and out of different garages looking for parking. This increases the congestion of campus because students are overlapping with other students whose classes are starting or ending at different times. Our application helps solve this by allowing the student to arrive on campus 5-10 minutes before and still arrive to class on time without speeding through numerous garages.

Cons

A major downfall with the implementation of a phone application to rid of the problem of finding a parking spot on campus at UCF is that it is unsafe. Texting and driving is illegal in Florida and looking at your phone while driving is not exactly safe either. While this seems like it would make our application impossible to implement, we have figured a way around it.

Since it is unsafe to look at your phone while driving we have made our application entirely hands free. Our application will use the phones built in GPS to notify the application as to which garage you are currently entering. Once the application is notified which garage the student has entered it will then speak to the user. It will notify the student how many free spots

are on each floor followed by directions to the closest open spot. This eliminates all the need for the student to open our application and look for an open spot while driving.

Although our application is cheaper and just as efficient as other solutions, a major setback would be having to close down a garage while it is fitted for the sensors.

Our solution to this is an easy one though. Our survey found that most students at UCF say that they are not on campus during Summer A session. We would close down one garage at a time during the least busy semester of the year (Summer A) and fit each floor starting from the bottom up, opening each floor as it is finished. This would minimize the traffic problems while the garages are being fitted and each garage would be done before the start of a busy Fall semester.

Why Our Application Solution is the Best Solution

While each of the other solutions to the problem of finding parking on campus UCF would in fact get rid of the problem each of those solutions have bigger negatives than positives to them. Whether it be the problem of costing UCF to much money to clear land and build a new garage or costing the university money by not allowing certain students to purchase parking decals; the negatives easily outweigh the positives in each of these “solutions”. Our application would costs the university less than 1% of the cost of each other possible solution while still accomplishing all the same that each other solution would be able to.

Schedule

E-mails with Parking Administration:

While gathering research and information for this project, we referred to the University of Central Florida Parking Services and asked them for their opinions on various questions related to our proposal. Their responses gave us the impression that they would be open to the idea of discussing the implementation of a parking app and putting sensors in an entire garage, however they also came off as cautious when it came to costs versus profit. We understood their hesitation considering the fact that it would require shutting down and working on an entire parking garage however their optimism about this system gave us the impression that they would be more than willing to listen to our proposal further and perhaps follow up on the sensor and app system that has clearly worked in other locations. The following are our questions to the parking administration and their responses:

Do you feel that investing in these sensors would be worthwhile for the students?

We do see the potential benefit for our students in using these sensors. However there are other projects and proposals that we would have to consider as alternatives as well. The well-being of our students is incredibly important to us and would be more than willing to look at the options laid out in front of us as long as they are within reason.

Do you feel that these sensors would be a good investment for the school?

Your recommendation for a system of sensors and an app certainly do sound like they would be beneficial to the students, however we would have to look at the situation from our perspective and analyze things such as risk versus reward and costs versus profits. The school would have to conduct its own research to estimate how long it would take to recoup costs and what kind of profits it could make us.

What would it cost to implement this system?

At this time we are not sure what the specific costs for this project would be, but we are sure it would involve hiring engineers, a construction crew, and whatever staff might be required in relation to the installation of the sensors and maintaining the app itself. What we have to keep in mind is that this is not a one-time operation, and that it will require surveillance and monitoring to ensure that sensors are not tampered with. At this moment we do not know if that would require extra staff or paying current workers more, both of which would have to be a huge factor in our long-term budget for this proposal.

If the parking problem was solved with this system, would the number of students willing to drive (and thus increase parking permits purchased) to UCF increase?

We certainly believe that it would give some an incentive to drive to school and buy parking permits. However, we would have to conduct our own research to learn just how many more students would buy permits as a result of this app's existence. In theory we understand how a better parking program can entice more students to drive to our campus, but we would need to question as to whether or not that number can help make the whole development and construction process necessary.

Would security/health risks decrease with this system?

Yes, we believe that if a program was put in place to make driving and parking on campus a much more simplified experience, there would be reduced risks in students getting into dangerous situations as a result of frustration or driving more than necessary.

On the other hand, we would need to take into consideration the risks that could be present should the app draw the driver's attention to his or her phone as opposed to focusing on driving and watching out for other cars.

Which garage would be best to test this system?

Parking garage H would be one of our ideal areas to improve. If it can prove to be effective at that location, it would seem reasonable to believe that these parking sensors could work in a number of other parking areas around campus.

For what length of time would the garage need to be shutdown in order to add sensors? How would the school redirect students?

We estimate that the parking garage would need to be closed for approximately three to four months. This is subject to change, but that is our best guess based on previous maintenance operations that have required extended closings of an entire garage.

If we were in a situation of having to redirect drivers away from the parking garage, we would direct them to the nearest parking garage, parking lot, or possibly even open up a whole new area (such as an open grass field).

Attendance Survey Results:

Part of the reason for this survey was to help us gain an understanding of how effective this sensor system would be, how much people would use it, and to help us figure out when would be the best time to install the sensors. When it came to developing an effective schedule to develop and implement the parking sensors and app, we relied heavily on the survey to influence our decisions of when the work should be done and completed. While this is a small sampling of UCF students, this data was incredibly helpful in realizing how these parking sensors and app could benefit the UCF population as a whole.

After surveying the students, we concluded that the summer semester would be the ideal time to work on the specified parking garage due to the lack of activity on campus. While the school does seem to prefer to start construction projects during the Fall and Spring semesters, such as at the Lake Claire apartments, we would argue that it would be incredibly problematic to close down a parking garage when student activity is at its highest. The summer provides that perfect opportunity to redirect whatever minimal traffic exists during this time. Here are the exact results from that survey that completely reinforce our statement that the summer semester is the ideal time to work on parking garage H.

Figure 3: Semester attendance survey results

What these results told us was that most of the students surveyed already drive, a majority felt that the app and sensors would relieve much of the traffic issues that currently plague the school, that more students would be willing to purchase a parking decal if the app worked, and that the summer semester, specifically Summer A, would be the best time to install the sensors without interrupting a great deal of student activity on campus.

We did not have this data available at the time of discussion with the UCF parking administration, however we feel this information would push them to see how beneficial our system could be and how much it could improve what already exists.

The development of the app itself could take place over the course of the spring semester or alongside the installation of the sensors during the summer semester. We believe it would be smart to work hard on developing the parking app early on in the system's creation as it gives the school much more time to promote it via e-mails. UCF will often e-mail its students to inform them of upcoming events and, in the case of students returning in the fall, offer many details on how to have the best experience possible during their education. It would be most beneficial for the parking app to be available and promoted at this time so that students can become familiar with it and influence more people in advance to purchase parking permits.

Final Schedule Plan

1. 2014 Spring Semestera. Begin development on parking app and software

2. May 2014a. Have all sensors and equipment ready for installation. Construction should be starting on

parking garage H. We recommend starting construction and installation at the top level of the parking garage as it will allow lower levels to be open to drivers for a while longer.

3. Late June 2014a. Have at least the top level of parking garage H completely installed with sensors in each

parking space. b. The app should be in late development (beta stage) and tested.

4. Late July 2014a. Construction and installation in parking garage H should be completed by this time. b. App should be completed and available to all students. It would also be the school’s

responsibility to begin promoting the app in e-mails to students preparing for the 2014 Fall semester.

5. August 2014a. Parking garage H is reopened and available to all students, staff, and faculty member.

Costs

A project such as this would mean having to pay for both the product and service to install the sensors and maintain the app. We have looked up and reviewed multiple sources from which to purchase the sensors and decided on one we recommend the most. Of course these numbers are subject to change

based on contracts the school might sign and what already existing contracts might exist with construction crews.

1. Costs for sensorsa. sensor: $1.50 each + casing ($0.50)

2. Costs for construction/development:a. This field is difficult to estimate based on how the school maintains its relationship with

specific construction companies through contracts. Schools very often become comfortable working with one company in situations such as these and we could not gain access to that information.

b. Installation: $3000 per garage. (drill holes, run wiring, affix sensors) ($25.50 hourly wage for electricians)

c. Supporting hardware: $15,000 per garage (wires, processing hubs, web server)3. Costs for app/maintenance:

a. software: $2000 (app)b. server maintenance: $500 / yearc. software maintenance: (only if something breaks? ) negligibled. physical maintenance: $1500 / year (keeping dirt and other obstructions out of the

sensors, replacing damaged sensors, verifying sensor integrity)

Conclusion: One of the biggest complaints heard about the University of Central

Florida is the struggle to find a parking space without getting fined. We came up with, and analyzed, a variety of methods that could remedy this problem and narrowed our suggestions down to one. Our proposal is the implementation of a system in which a parking garage is equipped with sensors in each parking space. The point of these sensors would be to also develop a smartphone app that updates students in real time which parking spaces are available. We believe this is the best option to alleviate traffic in the garages, wasted time spent looking for open spaces, save students from potentially paying parking fines, and easing the frustration that seems to be very noteworthy amongst UCF students.

We were careful to look into each possible solution to the parking issue, and be open-minded in analyzing the pros and cons of each solution. The use of sensors in parking spaces and an app to accompany it would be of great benefit to UCF students and provide some extra incentive for more

students to buy parking passes and therefore generate more profit for themselves, while also increasing the overall happiness of those who already park on campus. Solutions such as building an entirely new parking garage would be a logistically far more challenging resolution to implement.

As students ourselves, we wanted to work on an idea that we would want to use ourselves. Each solution that we discussed had its positives and downfalls, and we agreed that some were more logistically difficult to complete than others. It was through this kind of reasoning and discussion that led

Figure 4: Possible app layout

us to the conclusion that the parking sensor and accompanying app, as done the way we have proposed, would significantly help with the traffic and parking problems that have become increasingly noticeable on the UCF campus. The bonus here is that should it prove to be helpful in resolving the issues it was meant to, it could be expanded into more garages, and possibly even regular parking spaces in the streets.

Along with the concept of this app and use of sensors in the parking spaces, we have also included the technicalities of it. To our best effort, we made a conservative estimate on how much it would cost to create and run this system for parking garage H alone. Our estimates may be reduced even more if the school can secure contracts with a dealer for the sensors and the construction company. It is not uncommon for costs to be reduced should product be bought in bulk.

With all of this information having been explained in great detail over the previous several pages, we believe we have made a worthy argument as to why our proposal is one to look at with serious consideration. The benefit of this not being a brand new idea is that we have been able to observe how this program has worked in other parts of the world, many of which have traffic and parking situations far worse than what is experienced at the University of Central Florida.