A waste management solution to reduce time spent looking for available parking spots on the University of Minnesota - Duluth Campus

1. THEME: Installation of Dual Inductive Burial Loop Vehicle Counter
BACKGROUND:
 There are minimum parking spots for students who live off campus and purchased a maroon parking pass.
 Students who purchase a maroon parking pass have complications determining which parking lot is available.
 The variability in parking spaces causes inefficient time management amongst students.
 Maroon lot E becomes congested when students crowd to find available spaces.
CURRENT CONDITION:
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS:
 The main problem is, students waste time looking for parking spots
 Why? Students are unable to determine whether lot E has available spaces.
 Why? The only way to conclude if spots are available is to drive through the lot.
 Why? There is currently no system to show whether spots are available.
 Why? UMD has not implemented a parking management solution.
TARGET CONDITION:

2. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN:
 In order to confirm the need for a parking management system, the disorganization of maroon lot E needs to be
observed.
 Hire a company specializing in parking management system to evaluate maroon lot E.
 The equipment used would be a TC-2BL44-A1 Dual Inductive Burial Loop Vehicle Counter.
 This uses a 4’x4’ burial loop that will be placed under ground at the entrance of maroon lot E. This counter is
insensitive to changes in magnetic fields, foot traffic, and even environmental changes.
 It counts the flow of incoming and outgoing traffic.
 It also has the options for other output triggers.
 This is necessary for the use of the stop light.
 Follow-up with the installation of the Dual Inductive Burial Loop Vehicle Counter.
 The third-party contractor will supervise the equipment to confirm it is functioning properly.
 Parking services will ensure the system is operating at an optimal level.
Action Responsibility Deadline
Verify inefficiency Parking services Dec. 10, 2012
Installation of equipment Contractor Jan. 1, 2012
Test-run Contractor Jan. 22, 2012
Evaluate effectiveness Parking services Jan. 23, 2012
COST: $600 - $900
FOLLOW-UP:
Plan Actual
• The solution will minimize the time it takes for students
to find a spot in maroon lot E, reduce wait time, and
prevent traffic jams.
• Parking services can count the number of vehicles that
chose a different lot because of the red light.
o Each student that did not have to drive
through the lot will save five minutes.
• Green light students who found a spot with no
obstructions (other vehicles) will save time.
• TBA

3. o Time how long it takes a “green light”
student to find an available spot.
• Visually, the congestion has decreased.
• This measure will be conducted between the hours of
9am and 12pm on January 23rd
.