Digital transformation of UTA’s parking lots
Sharareh (Sherri) Kermanshachi, a University of Texas at Arlington associate professor of civil engineering, has partnered with Modii (formerly known as Spot Parking), the UTA Department of Parking and Transportation Services and the North Central Texas Council of Governments and secured a $500,148 two-year grant to develop and evaluate a digital map for UTA parking lots that will allow motorists to electronically access available parking spaces.
The team will use accumulated UTA data to digitally transform parking management across the campus and evaluate the effectiveness of the new system. This project will provide immediate benefits to the campus by enhancing sustainability practices because motorists will use less fuel and increase efficiency of existing parking assets on campus.
The project also will seek to improve users’ experiences and establish an artificial intelligence-based system to predict future demand.
“Parking has become a major challenge for campuses across the country,” Kermanshachi said. “The search for parking spaces leads to a daily waste of time and gas and more emissions by students, faculty, staff and visitors.”
Kermanshachi also is the director of the Resilient Infrastructures and Sustainable Environment Lab, assistant director of research initiatives in the College of Engineering, and technology transfer director of the Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions and Dollars. Co-principal investigators on the project include Greg Hladik, UTA executive director of Auxiliary Services; Jay Rosenberger, UTA professor and interim chair of the Department of Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering; and Mark Frumar, president of Modii.
Kermanshachi said the team will use sensors and create a digital map of parking spaces on the UTA campus. Modii officials said a long-term relationship with UTA will lead to better parking experiences and better-informed decisions about future parking needs on campus.
Hladik said he expects parking at UTA will improve astronomically.
“Once this project is done, we hope to cut down on the constant search up and down rows of parking spaces that motorists make,” Hladik said. “We believe this system will enable UTA to be smarter about its parking.”
Frumar said the Modii user interface and processing algorithm will improve based on the research results obtained from the UTA case study.
“Students download the app and use it to find the most convenient parking spot,” he said. “Our system even makes it easy on game days and at special events.”