Parking Lot Monstrosity
Hubert Tse <htse>
February, 2005

*** OVERVIEW ***
Brown University maintains several parking lots on campus and the over-demand for parking space have resulted in long waiting lines. Each parking lot has a waiting list and it is possible to be on the waiting list for several parking lots at a time. One never knows their status on any of the lines or an estimated time of approval.

This project will create a "one stop" centralized secure parking lot system with a graphical web interface. Users can see information about the statistics and locations of each parking lot, size of each waiting list, and their position on the waiting lists. New users can register and even decide to switch waiting lists.


*** TARGET USERS ***
The target audience are the staff and students of Brown University whom own or will own a vehicle. The project could also expand to non-Brown University patrons.

*** SCALABILITY/SIZE OF USERBASE ***
Undergraduate student body: 5,906
Estimated number of professors: 1,000
Estimated number of Graduate students: 1,000

Gross Estimation of userbase: 10,000 users
Gross Estimation of maximum users connected at any one time: 500-1,000 users


*** REQUIREMENTS ***
Features
	- Live Statistics (Priority: HIGH)
		- Number of spaces per lot
		- Number of cars allocated per lot
		- Size of waiting list per lot
		- User position on waiting lists
	- Secure User Login (Priority: HIGH)
		- Login with Brown Auth-ID
		- Session management (Individual Priority: MEDIUM)
		- New user registration *Optional* (Individual Priority: LOW)
	- Interactive User Controls (Priority: HIGH)
		- User can add/remove/swap on authorized waiting lists
	- Administrative Control Panel (PRIORITY: HIGH)
		- Access live waiting lists
		- Edit live waiting lists
		- Set permissions on waiting lists (e.g. Students can only pick from...)
		
	- Graphical Representation of Data (PRIORITY: MEDIUM)
		- Intuitive and effective bar/pie charts of "Live Statistics"
		- Use colors to represent magnitude of waiting list sizes
	- Estimation tool (PRIORITY: MEDIUM)
		- Calculate estimated waiting time
		- Store waiting line statistics to improve accuracy of estimation
		
	- Notifications and Alerts (PRIORITY: LOW)
		- Users can setup alert conditions to send an e-mail to them when the condition is satisfied
		- Option to email monthly/daily/semester/year on current status waiting line statistics
	- User Status Priorities (PRIORITY: LOW)
		- Manipulate waiting lines to give priority to Professors before Students
		- Set balancing mechanism

Hardware and OS Requirements
	- Program and database must run on Solaris in the Sun Lab
	
Web Interface
	- Must be compatible across all browsers on all systems. Most common browsers are: Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, Safari, Opera
	- Can be accessed over the internet (public)


*** TIMELINE/BUDGET ***
Timeline: 5 Months
Budget: Unknown

	
*** POTENTIAL RISKS/SET BACKS ***
Parking lot administration may be reluctant to help
- Training would take time and resources
- Increased work load and responsibility due to the need of live statistics

Secure user login
- Must contact CIS to see how we can access user database securely
- Maybe asked to incorporate program into their current system


*** Testing ***
- A fake user list could be compiled by hand and then added to the database. A comparison is then made between the hand calculated waiting lists and the waiting lists produced by the program to check for discrepancies
- Enter all current data from the parking lot administration into the database and compare to see if the waiting lists are the same
- Create "bots" that simulate users to access the system simultaneously to see how much load the system can handle before locking up