HARRISBURG UNIVERSITY CAR PARKING

PROPOSAL

2017

DAKSHATTA RATHOD
Harrisburg
 TABLE OF CONTENT
Executive Summary………………………………………………………3
Introduction …………………………………………………………………5
Description and Facts……………………………………………………6
Proposal 1 ………………………………………………….………………...9
Proposal 2……………………………………………………………………10
Proposal 3……………………………………………………………........11
Conclusion and Recommendations…………………………….…12

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Executive summary
Harrisburg university is an esteemed private university located in
Pennsylvania, USA.

The parking amenities are divided into three main categories,

Resident, commuter, and faculty. Irrespective of having amenities,
Harrisburg University is facing issues on the student car parking
spaces. Every year, the number of students at Harrisburg University
has increased as Ill as the garage parking and street parking are very
costly options for students. This proposal is addressed to University’s
financial administration for a different step up ideas for improving
student parking at Harrisburg university.

The parking lot proposal will help the many students to save a lot of
money and time. It is important for the university administration to
consider important measures to solve these long-term problems.
Harrisburg University financial administration will be able to make a
sound decision based on this proposal. I also have laid down the
advantage and disadvantage of each car pack along with cost
involved. These various options will overall help the university
leadership team to analyze the recommendation and make sound
decisions for the betterment of the students.

The proposal analyses the different options of parking space and is

influenced by distance from university, the cost of parking on an
hourly basis or daily basis, the infrastructure and number of the

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vehicles will be allowed in the allotted space. The return on
investment is analyzed for each option and how the current parking
space will eliminate issues of cost and space which will have a huge
impact on the student’s daily commute.

Introduction
In this report, I would like to propose few solutions which could
improve the parking issues at Harrisburg university. The options will
deal with adding more number of parking lots around the area to
ensure all the needs have been fulfilled. The other available option
will be to manage parking lots in different locations looking at
discounts for student. Third alternative will be providing the ways for
students to commute together or give a transport facility.
Every year number of student enrolled at Harrisburg university for
science and technology courses. As Harrisburg university has a one
building campus and located in central downtown of Harrisburg.
Unfortunately, the parking situation is not ideal for the students as
students have only two options of parking which are way costlier and
they face issues everyday basis. The current parking levels are only 3
levels and do not fit all the cars or bikes and it’s very difficult to get
the spots on streets as it is first to come first serve basis. The car park
only accepts credit card which not all university students own and
mostly some machines are not fixed.

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In order to solve this issue, this proposal will give a recommendation
for improvement in parking at Harrisburg University. This gives a
breakdown of different options and recommendations of parking lots
spaces sizes and price as Ill as Return of investment. This is full
solution breakdown for Harrisburg universities parking lot problem.
Description and Facts:
The number of students has increased exponentially every year since
2015 (CHART1). The car park slots remain the same and there is also
the cost increase for car parking. The breakdown of all the cost and
spaces are listed in the table. The cost also has gone up every year
which was also an issue for the student. The number of cars owner
increased within the batch of students joined since 2015.
Comparison with MIT parking facilities

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Compare Rates for Student Parking Permit
As you can see, MIT has a huge campus and cost structure varies as
per parking closer or further to the campus.
Below is the main feature of the parking lot:
1. Monthly permit never exceeds $100
2. Daily rate is around $14 when compared to $30 of HU
campus
3. The majority of the University campus parking is available in
UPC Gold Structures where monthly passes are from $81 to
$111.

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 4. Semester rate option available to students to avail discounts.

Chart 1: Number of student since 2015- 2017

Students 2015-2017
70000

60000

50000

40000

30000

20000

10000

0
2015 2016 2017

Chart 2: Parking Time and Hours

1. Below 15mins - $1.50
2. Below 30mins - $3.00
3. 30mins – 1hr - $ 5.00
4. 2hours – 3hours - $ 7.00
5. 5hours - $12.00
6. 10hours - $20.00
7. 24hours - $50.00

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 Chart 3: Current space situation and required space

Required New
User Group Current space
Space Space requirement

Undergraduate 60000 30000 5900

Faculty/ Staff 2000 700 3900

Visitors 1000 300 1000

Total 63000 310000 11800

Chart 4: Three proposed new options for student parking, showing

the advantages and disadvantages each.
Considering that Harrisburg university financial department is ready
to consider the expansion options as Ill as improvement options
below are the proposal for the same.
Proposal1: Starting shuttle services to Harrisburg university
This is a great option as it is closer to university and part of central
Harrisburg. There are more than 1,3000 metered parking spaces
located in Harrisburg with 168 parking stations. Below is a map
depicting those spaces
The only disadvantage is that it will be expensive for the student on
day to day basis.
Street parking is a cheaper option than garage parking giving the
discounts for more vehicles to park.
Different areas Street parking Harrisburg parking

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 Central 10 30
Midtown 5 20
Downtown 15 25

As per the table, there is a cost saving option for students along with
- Cheaper for student choosing the area option too. Running a shuttle
- Larger space between the routes of parking will help in
cutting down cost and time of the students. MIT has campus shuttle
which works very efficiently for them and there is an app facility
which helps to track the busses at different locations.
Recommendations –
1. Run 4 buses between downtown to midtown
2. Operate between 6 am to 10 pm
3. Bus stops every 5mile radius near parking lots
4. Create the app to determine the bus locations
Advantages –
- Cheaper for students
- Different options to choose from
- Shuttle service tracking to match student’s timings
Disadvantages –
- Investment in shuttle agency and salary of drivers
- Hire app company to create the bus service app for HU
Proposal2: Expansion to other parking lots in the area

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 Nearby parking spaces (cost analysis on the basis of 4-hour parking
on Saturdays Executive classes)
Mandarin spaces are further out of suburbs and will increase the
commute time for student even if it is the cheapest option.
Advantages
- 1030sqft bigger space
- Closer to Harrisburg
University
1. Location next to Harrisburg
- Walking distance
University
- Always availability
2. Long-term higher return of
investment Disadvantages
- does not Fit all car and bike
types
- This will be quick fix solution
- The contract will be cheaper if signed for 16months.
Parking name Parking spaces Cost for 4 hours ($)
1st street 450 4
10th street 345 8
Columbus circle 455 5
Downtown 900 6

Proposal 3: Expansion to Ultra – spaces by building more floors for

parking lots
For the longer term, this would be the best option with a lot of space
and fits within expansion plans of university in future.

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Advantages
1. Permanent solution to parking issues at Harrisburg University
2. Location within the campus
2. Large space for all bikes and cars

Disadvantages
1. Higher cost and infrastructure
2. Time for building the parking lot
3. Higher cost of temporary solutions
Ultra-space is the best option due to fact that its reasonably priced
with all the good infrastructure and return on investment is much
better when you look at long term. It will also help student
tremendously on commute time and cost involved on parking.

Conclusion and Recommendations

After all the analysis and comparing all the three options, I would
recommend that proposal option 3 should be executed as this is the
best option in terms of long-term return on investment, pricing, and
infrastructure. There will be ample of space for student parking and
all the students can fit. The infrastructure and improvement in
pricing will help the students immensely as Ill as university financial
management will be able to take a decision. The analysis also shows
that if the number of students tries to carpool or can be used as a

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public transport is better for the environment and will keep the costs
down. The university should implement a regular process to check
the efficiency and usage of the car park and student usage. The
parking policies should be modified and parking ID card can help to
track the usage of parking. Definitely, promote car-pooling and
shuttle usage can be encouraged. Different monthly rate or hourly
rate can be adjusted as per the students’ needs and as students who
are digitally savvy will be able to book the car pack online through an
app and pay accordingly.
Reference
http://web.mit.edu/facilities/transportation/parking/visitors/public_
parking.html

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