UCF Students Plan App to Solve Parking Mess
Culture, News, Politics, Tuition, UCF Administration, UCF SGA, Videos — By Staff on November 2, 2010 at 12:13 amAs more than $10,000 of UCF students’ money likely sits in the bank account of a California carpool company called Zimride, a group of UCF engineering students is struggling to raise a fraction of that amount to launch a localized app designed specifically to solve the parking headaches here at UCF.
The group of students has made a quick video and is turning to the Internet and Facebook to get its message out about trying to create something to make a difference with the nightmare so many students face each day while trying to park.
The group is pleading its case on Kickstarter.com, a website where people can pledge money to help start up companies. The site warns the project will only be funded if at least $3,500 is pledged by Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 3:15 p.m. So far, $1,145 of the $3,500 has been pledged.
Meanwhile, even as the California-based carpool program SGA hoped would make a difference at UCF has attracted more than 1,100 UCF students to sign up, KnightNews.com continues to hear complaints from students who say they’ve never heard of anyone actually using the student government-backed solution, Zimride, to score a ride to campus because it is “creepy” to share a ride with a stranger.
On the other hand, the UCF engineering students’ app would have students sharing something a lot less intrusive — basic information with fellow students about where they park. Students using the UCF app would never have to have an awkward conversation with those benefiting from the information, nevermind have to share an awkward car ride with a stranger.
Here’s how the app would work: A smartphone will track your car’s location when you park using the GPS feature. When you are leaving class to go back to your car, you tell the app you’re about to leave. That earns you a credit for the app. Then, people using the app that are looking for parking will spend one credit to find out where available spots are. The app will reward people who share information with others about parking at UCF.
Even though students still have a hard time parking, SGA claims the California-based Zimride program is “successful” here in Orlando. SGA ignored KnightNews.com’s question about how many people actually used Zimride to find a ride to campus in the last two weeks. Instead, the SGA statement simply touted how 1,100 students had already signed up, revealing no information on how many actual rides it has provided.
According to SGA, current student body President Michael Kilbride’s administration funded Zimride for the next two years using money from his predecessor’s 2009-2010 “President’s Initiatives” budget — a slush fund of sorts SGA presidents have to spend on pet projects without that money being budgeted to a specific purpose in a line item when approved by the Senate and administration.
Even though the money was meant for Kilbride’s predecessor, Brian Peterson, to spend by July 2010, Kilbride chose to enter in a two-year contract for more than $10,000 with Zimride. That means seniors that graduate in Spring 2011 will be paying for a service they’ll never use in Fall 2011.
SGA defended its decision to commit to a two-year contract for a brand new service, before it was clear whether Zimride would even be effective at UCF, like it is in California, where the culture is more embracing of carpooling. In doing so, SGA sent the entire $10,000+ chunk of student activity fees straight to UCF Parking Services, which would then send the SGA money along with another roughly $10,000 chunk of public money form Parking Services to the company.
“The partnership with UCF Parking and Transportation Services allowed SGA to provide this service while splitting the cost. In addition, we saved $11,000.00 by entering into a 2 year agreement instead of 2- 1 year agreements,” read a statement from the Mike Kilbride administration to KnightNews.com.
It’s not clear from the statement whether SGA negotiated any rights to terminate the contract if Zimride didn’t meet expectations of students.
KnightNews.com is still waiting to hear back from SGA regarding this question: “Have you consulted with the auditor general in Tallahassee to ensure compliance with state law, especially considering UCF’s poor track record with transferring student fees in a way state auditors have disagreed with?”
The SGA statement did not directly address that question, however it did assert that: “The payment followed university accounting procedures.”
In the past, UCF has been slammed by state auditors for transferring millions in student fees to entities that UCF account procedures deems acceptable, but state auditors did not.
Check back for updates as KnightNews.com continues to follow the search for a solution to UCF’s parking headaches.
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14 Comments
The biggest problem: GPS doesn’t work inside of a parking garage. End of story. qed.
1) people are too lazy to do this.
2) telling to people to use an app on their phone while driving is not only dangerous but illegal.
3) even if the system worked, the parking spot would most likely be already waited upon by another driver.
The problem is not that people cant find these hidden “open” spots that need to be broadcasted, there just are not any open spots. The only to fix parking blues is to increase parking spots or decrease demand for them. This is a very short sighted plan.
They were trying to think of a solution. Obviously it isn’t going to be 100% effective, but I’m sure some people who use it will be successful and it will make the parking situation a little less stressful. Plus according to the $3,500 target amount, it won’t cost tens of thousands like Zimride does, and with a lot more accessibility. It is obvious that students do not like carpooling with strangers since there is still a parking problem, and Zimride is still not fixing it.
For those who use Zimride and are successful, great! For those who don’t or won’t, this may be a good alternative to searching for hours.
why is this new “application” like basic common courtesy to tell someone that youre leaving? thats stupid. and hopefully the new parking garage will ease parking troubles somewhat.
Oh damn… nevermind, you did… I don’t actually read the articles… I saw his name scrolling back up… hahahahahhahaha. knightnews = hahahahahahahhahaha
Wait… this isn’t Mike Kilbride’s fault?! I’m sure there’s some obscure way you can tie this to him… DO IT! lol
To the long commenter: Do you really think the article was going to explain the entire idea behind their idea in 2 paragraphs? It’s the easiest thing in the world to criticize. Maybe they have answers and maybe they don’t but to publish a 10+ paragraph response trashing it is a little much dontcha think? Plus from what I read they aren’t getting any money other than the donations, so it’s no hair off your back if it goes up in flames anyway.
I just would like to say for the student that found a ride with 3 other people. It doesnt count if your all riding to the SGA OFfice. Also, What happens if the students get kidnapped or rapped because of sharing a ride with random people. The liability is huge. Also the marketing on Zimride can improve greatly but then again it shouldn’t as someone could get hurt. lastly the UCF Engineers are at least trying to fix the problem. and it gives students another way to search for parking. Whether or not it works 100 percent who cares as long as it gives students an edge to clinch a space.
its a good theory, but its just not feesible. First and most obvious, not everybody has smart phones.
Also who is to say that when someone without a smart phone won’t take the very first open spot they see, whether or not a smart phone user has used their token on it. There will always be people who don’t follow the rules or are just in a hurry.
The only way to defend against that is a system that makes a parking spot impossible to get into without the right signal coming from your smart phone. So then what? build electronic retractable barriers for the 14,000+ spots here on campus? With that crazy amount of money why not just build another garage?
Sadly, there really isn’t anything anyone can do about this problem at hand. The only halfway decent option is for UCF to sponsor more shuttle services to the off campus communities who show a need for them.
(1) Is the GPS accurate enough to pinpoint the exact location of the spot?
(2) How will that work with the multiple levels in the parking garages?
(3a) What will happen if another student who isn’t using the application arrives at the spot first?
(3b) What sort of disputes will this cause at the spot location?
(4) Will the app send the spot location to a) One person, b) Multiple people?
(5) From a safety stand point, is it advisable to have students not only using their smart phones while driving around crowded parking lots on a college campus, but also racing to a location against other application users, and competing with students who are not using the system?
(6) If the app sends locations to multiple students, what happens if two students using the app arrive at the spot at the same time?
I would like to say that this idea is good in theory, but it is not. It is impractical and a waste of time and money. In reality, the demand for parking is too high at the peak times of the day to have any solution like this come close to working.
Because I hate to offer criticism without making an attempt at a solution, I would suggest a few alternatives. First, students suffer from imperfect information in the parking game. If there was a way to increase the level of information about parking trends for students, that might be successful. If students knew which lots filled at different times throughout the day, they would be able to cater their search to specific locations. This would require some willingness on the students’ part to accept the fact that they may have to park further away from their desired location than they planned, and actually using the on-campus shuttle system. If Parking Services or SGA could do a study on the peak times for the various lots on campus, and conveyed that information to students, this might help the parking situation a bit. For example, if you are circling around lot D for a spot, you have no idea whether lot A on the other side of campus might still have spots on the top row.
Next, if Parking Services, during the peak times of the day was able to actually have parking attendants at the entrances and exits of the garages, they could communicate with each other and the students entering the garages and inform them of areas on campus which may not be filled. Also, since there would be an attendant at the entrance of the garage and driving around the garage, Parking Services could effectively put an end to illegal parking on campus. If the entrance attendant saw a car enter with no decal, they could immediately convey that information to someone who could issue a citation for that vehicle if they do not purchase a day pass, or have a hang tag. Even without doing this, if the signs on the garages which displayed whether or not the garage was at capacity actually worked it could help. If there was a way to add a sign which displayed the collective efforts of those signs at the campus entrances, that too might help.
Lastly, and unfortunately, it may be necessary (and the best solution) to significantly increase the price of the parking decal. Right now the demand for parking greatly exceeds the supply. By increasing the price of parking on campus, those who may have alternative means of traveling to campus, such as access to a shuttle or a car pool system (such as Zimride) would have more of an incentive to do so. This would also provide more money to fund new garages and other solutions to fix parking.
Zimride works. I found 3 rides with awesome people!
All I’m trying to say is that it’s a great idea but there are big issues to consider!
Additionally, what if someone gets to the space before you? I bet it’d get annoying “using” a credit to find a full space! And it’d get even more annoying with people marking full spaces as empty just to get credit…
how will you know what level the spot is on?