SAMPLE Project Template

(not to be reproduced)

1. Project Description

Motivation -- Studies have estimated that on a daily basis 30% of traffic in the downtown area of major

cities is due to cruising for parking spots. In addition to aggravation and the waste of time and fuel for

drivers looking for parking, this also contributes to additional waste of time and fuel for other drivers as

a result of traffic congestion. For example, it has been reported that over one year in a small Los Angeles

spots. Parking information may be displayed on variable-message signs at major roads, streets, and

intersections, or it may be disseminated through the Internet and through portable devices (e.g.,

smartphones). However, we notice that PGI systems have several shortcomings: (i) Drivers may not

actually find vacant parking spots by merely following guidance. More drivers go toward the same

available parking spots and it is possible that none is free by the time some drivers arrive. (ii) Worse, by

guiding many drivers to an area with one or very few vacant spots, a PGI system often creates additional

traffic congestion instead of alleviating it. (iii) Even if a driver is successfully guided to a parking spot, a

PGI system encourages finding any parking spot at the expense of missing a better spot. (iv) From the

point of view of parking operators (especially cities), parking space utilization becomes imbalanced.

or through a smartphone. A request is accompanied by two driver-defined requirements: an upper

bound on parking cost and an upper bound on the walking distance between a parking spot and the

driver's actual destination. This information may be part of “preference” settings that the driver has

already input or they can be adjusted for each request. The request contains basic information such as

license number, current location, etc.

The Smart Parking Allocation Center (SPAC) collects all driver requests in the DPRC over a certain time

window and makes an overall allocation at decision points in time seeking to optimize a combination of

driver-specific and system-wide objectives. This is accomplished through an optimization engine based

on an algorithm we have developed. An assigned parking space is sent back to each driver via the DRPC.

vacant to reserved, and provides the guarantee that other drivers have no permission to take that

spot. If a driver is not satisfied with the assignment (either because of limited parking spots or his own

overly restrictive parking requirements) or fails to accept it for any other reason, he has to wait until the

next decision point (typically, a minute) and may change his cost or walking-distance

requirements to increase the chance to be allocated if the parking system is highly utilized (it is of

course possible that no parking space is ever assigned to a driver). While the driver is en route to the

reserved spot, the system charges an additional fee on a per-minute basis.

Innovative elements-- We highlight the innovative elements of our “smart parking” system relative to

the state of the art: (i) The system automatically finds the best parking spot available at the time of a

optimal).

2. Team member and audience

Team member – We have a four-person team. Details are as

follows.

Name

Tel

Institution

Project Audience – Junior or Senior College students, Graduate students

networks. (iii) Solve an optimization problem to obtain best allocation results. (iv) The SPAC must be

able to implement a reservation that guarantees a specific parking spot to a driver. The implementation

details for each of these three requirements are described in the following table.

Tasks

Activity

Require

Gateway,

100

database skills

Vehicle

app.

Build a smart phone app. or a website

where drivers can send parking

request and make reservation

app.

development,

web

Solve

Problem (iii)

problem as an optimization problem

and solve it with commercial tools