We are trying the reserved zone approach in order to give more faculty and staff members the opportunity to park in the complex.
Demand for parking continues to outpace our ability to add more spaces. User rates within the campus decks are extremely low. As much as forty percent of the spaces in these facilities are vacant at all times. Also, waiting lists for these facilities are long. Sometimes it takes many years to get a spot in the areas that are most in demand.
Further, underused parking structures and low revenue returns create an economic burden that affects the ability to support the debt service and ongoing maintenance and other costs associated with parking services that are needed now and for years to come.
Reserved zone parking is by far the most often used method of parking on college campuses. It can work well if managed carefully. Zone Parking using access control technology, limited permit assignments and aggressive security measures, will provide a fair balance of convenience and efficiency.
Several surveys have been conducted that include a count of the number of cars that park in this facility on each week day and at different times throughout the day. The most recent counts indicate that the number of vehicles in the facility have consistently been at less than 60 percent of capacity. The new complex will feature an electronic parking control system that will count each car entering the area as the permit is swiped and provide an accurate account of cars that are in the facility throughout the day.
No additional permits will be sold for this area until there is full confidence that capacity can be slowly increased. The number of permits assigned to this area will always be well below the maximum capacity as determined by regular car counts. Cars will be counted manually within the area to alert parking security to search the area for illegal vehicles, and parking enforcement in the reserved zone will ensure that reserved zone permit holders will have a place to park.
No. Although there is strong confidence that the arrangement will provide a convenient space for everyone, if it falls short of this goal, it will be changed.
Yes. The price will be reduced to $295. That is about $.80 a day for garage parking.
Yes, for those who wish to change their assignment, there is availability in the School Street Complex.
We are piloting this program at the new South University Parking Complex because it has the best equipment technologically to accommodate the zone method of parking that is most common on university campuses. Electronic gating features are able to control access as well as capture information about how the parking facility is being used. That technology is not currently in place in other parking decks. If the pilot program works as expected, the program will likely be expanded to other areas on campus.
ARC or Access /Revenue Control is a software application that works in conjunction with our existing database to allow us to view the number of parkers in specific areas of the facility at any given time, as well as what “type” of parker they are.
The system allows access to the garage in two ways: the swipe of a permit (or ID card) that allows for parking in a specific area of the deck, or the taking of a ticket at the entrance for hourly parking.
The ARC system requires the permit holder to swipe a credential to gain entry to the facility. The permits for the garage will all have a magnetic stripe on them that can be scanned through the system. The Faculty/Staff Reserved Zone (2nd floor) permit holders will be provided with an alternate “card” to leave in the vehicle that will also contain the magnetic stripe. The system will be programmed so that the Redbird Card can be used as an alternate form of entry if needed. There is a “no pass-back” feature incorporated into the system. Once a permit swipes in, it must swipe out before the system will allow it to swipe in again. This will prevent a permit holder from entering and then giving their permit to another person to park in the deck.
Once a credential is swiped, the gate arm will open to allow the vehicle to pass through. Upon exit, the procedure is the same, the permit is swiped and the gate opens. Once the vehicle is in the entry lane the entire swipe and gate lift process takes about 8 seconds or less to complete. The actual time it takes to open the gate after the credential is swiped is less than 2 seconds. Permit holders can keep this process flowing by making sure that they have their credential ready when they enter the lane.
ARC allows us to accommodate potential additional demand from users. This will increase the number of parkers that can access the structure and will subsequently increase the revenue realization for the deck. When this demand occurs, our software can identify the areas that are underutilized and allow the flow of traffic into those areas. As the product name implies, access is a higher priority than revenue. The use of ARC will increase our ability to accommodate more users in the structure in an area of campus that desperately needs additional parking options.
