CHAPTER 3

3.0 METHODOLOGY

This chapter states the different methods carried out in order to achieve the redesigning

of the engineering faculty parking lot. In this chapter also, the sources for data

collection needed for the redesigning were indicated and software’s adopted.

3.1 IN-OUT SURVEY METHOD

This method was used to count the number of vehicle inflow to the parking lot and

vehicle outflow from the parking lot. The counting was done between 8am - 10am, 1pm

- 3pm and 6pm - 8pm from Monday to Sunday. In this survey, the occupancy count in

the parking lots is taken at the beginning before counting the number of vehicles inflow

and outflow to and from the parking lot for each 30 minutes’ interval beat.

3.2 FIXED METHOD SAMPLING

This method was used to establish the fixed period for the in-out survey. All vehicles

are counted at the beginning of the survey, then after a fixed time interval of 2 hours,

the count is again taken.

3.3 VEHICLE PLATE METHOD

This method was used in combination with the aforementioned methods in this

research. The vehicle plate number of each vehicle was noted down at the beginning of

each interval to detect the vehicles that parked for a period exceeding the fixed

intervals.

3.4 SOFTWARE ADOPTED

3.4.1 AUTOCAD

This is an engineering draughting software used in engineering and thus was adopted

in this research. The software version used for this research is AutoCAD 2015. This was

used for the drawing and designing of the existing parking facility of Faculty of

Engineering plan view and testing of the existing facility with different angles of

parking.

3.4.2 MS EXCEL

MS EXCEL was used to compute and evaluate the statistics aspect of the parking

survey. MS Excel version 2015 was adopted in this research and also was used to

generate the parking accumulation curve.

3.4.3 CHIEF ARCHITECT

This architectural software was adopted in the drawing of the new parking lot and its

modelling. Chief architect x7 was adopted in this research.

3.5 STANDARD VEHICLE ADOPTED

The standard vehicle adopted for this research is the landcruiser. The width and length

of a landcruiser were measured using measuring tape. 50% of the width was added to

the width for optimal parking space.

3.6 STATISTICAL FORMULA ADOPTED

Equation 1, 2, 3 and 4 were applied in the evaluation of the parking statistics

Parking duration = Parking load ………………1

Parking volume

Parking index (occupancy) = Parking load × 100 ………2

Parking capacity

Accumulation = initial count (met) + in-out ……3

Parking load = 30 minutes (interval) × accumulation……4

P t = P c ( 1+r / 100 )n…………..5

RSUEF supply/population ratio × P20 = Parking supply for next 20 years…….6

RSUEF demand/population ratio × P20 = Parking demand for next 20 years…...7

Where:

P t = Future population at any time

P c = Current population

r = Growth percentage

n = Number of years

3.7 ASSUMPTIONS FOR REDESIGNING

 Growth percentage for undergraduate and graduate students is 2%.

 Design period is 20 years.

  The rate of non-academic and academic staff is proportional to the increase of

undergraduate and graduate students.

 Addition of 15% for the current parking demand for optimal design.

 RSUEF supply/population ratio is maintained per population.

 RSUEF demand/population ratio is maintained per population.

3.8 PARKING MODEL VARIABLES

To forecast the future parking demand in the Engineering faculty parking lot, a parking

model was constructed to analyse future conditions. The variables used in the model

are:

 The Engineering faculty population in terms of undergraduate students,

graduate students, academic and non-academic staff. This data was collected

from the Engineering faculty.

 The rate of growth of the Engineering faculty population (2% growth rate was

adopted).

 The ratio of parking supply to the Engineering faculty population.

 The ratio of parking demand to the Engineering faculty population.