Innovation Project

Problem

Ash Way Park & Ride located in Lynnwood, WA, operated by Community Transit, is 107% full. This is because people are not only parking in designated parking spots, but in fire lanes and tow-away zones as well. The population of Snohomish County is growing faster than any other county in the state, which means more cars are on Interstate 5 adding to longer commute times. Commuters around Everett, WA, spend more time stuck in traffic than anywhere else in the nation.

Existing Solutions 

King County Metro/Chariot

• On October 23rd, 2018, King County Metro partnered with Ford Smart Mobility’s Chariot to start an on-demand shuttle program to and from transit hubs.

• The chariot was a commuter shuttle service owned by Ford.  The shuttle would take people to and from the park and rides.

• When they first launched it as a pilot program the rides were free, but if they actually tried to use this solution it would cost $2.75 a ride.

• When Chariot shut down due to funding loss they switched operation and went to Hopelink, which is a non-profit organization that helps end poverty.

• After, King County Metro couldn’t find another partner for the program and it shut down.

King County Permit Parking

• King County City Council allowed 9 park and rides to start having permit parking spots.

• People can reserve spots from Monday through Friday from 4 am to 10 am.

• To be eligible, drivers must go to a participating park & ride for at least 12 days a month. 

• Permits are free for carpool, but for single-occupancy vehicles, it will cost $60 to $90 a month depending on the park and ride.  Seven will charge $90 a month and 2 will charge $60 a month. ORCA lift participants can also reserve permits for $20 a month.

•  King County has now discontinued permits for single-occupancy vehicles and since then the council has also approved permits for Northgate Park & Ride which will go for $120 per month.

•  Sound Transit has also added additional parking nearby to help with the congestion. 

Mercer Island Ride On Demand

• In 2018 Mercer island invested $226,900 of taxpayer money in a pilot program where people riding Uber or Lyft got a discounted ride to go from the Mercer Island Park & Ride to and from Park & Rides. 

• They also sent the Ubers and Lyfts to wooded areas and winding roads where buses couldn’t reach. 

• Uber and Lyft also both invested $10,000 to help fund the project. 

• We decided this was a good idea and we implemented this into our solution in a similar way. 

Solution Part 1: Part 1 has two prototypes and two parts

• The first prototype consists of an Arduino Uno and a phone app. When you one of the piezoelectric material on the Arduino it either subtracts or adds a car from the phone app count.

• The second prototype consists of road tubes and air switches. When a car goes over a road tube it will send a puff of air to the air switch and then the air switch will convert that to a voltage. It will send that voltage to an Arduino Uno and based on which tube the car hit first, the Arduino would either subtract or add a car from our phone app count. 

• The first part consists of RBMA & RB-S Vehicle Sensing Switches at the entrances and exits of Ash Way which would count the cars that come in and out of the lot. It would then send the data to the phone app and it would either add or subtract a car from the count.

• The second part consists of a shuttle running from Swamp Creek Park & Ride to Ash Way Park & Ride. So, if Ash Way is full you can drive over to Swamp Creek and the shuttle would take you over to Ash Way.

Left: Swamp Creek P&R (start)                                                                    Right: Ash Way P&R (end)

What is currently at Ash Way Park & Ride?

• 1,019 designated parking slots, 4 bus bays, 2 bicycle racks/lockers, Overfull parking lot, Motorcycle Parking spots, Bus route information

I-5 Research:

According to the Seattle Times, “Roy McIntosh, of Redmond, said he prefers taking a bus to Seattle, where he visits his children or attends events downtown. But because finding parking at nearby park-and-ride lots is nearly impossible, he said, he’s given up on transit and now drives his car whenever he makes the trip.” According to state representatives, John Lovick and Jared Mead, Snohomish County has “been growing faster than anywhere else in the state over the past decade. With growth comes growing pains, and we are feeling it nowhere harder than in our transportation system.”

• Between Marysville and Everett, there are an estimated 65,000 vehicles in the northbound direction on I-5 itself

• Everett to Seattle commute time via 1-5: 94 minutes

• Ash Way Park and Ride to Seattle (All Routes): 43 minutes average

Why is this a problem?

This is a very serious issue since many people already use the I-5 to travel in areas inside the Marysville and Seattle area, Ash Way Park & Ride in that area is highly used by Snohomish County’s ever-growing population. And people are allowed to keep cars off the road by taking a bus from Ash Way Park & Ride to Seattle or other destinations. When Ash Way Park & Ride is full and unusable, people are forced to drive onto I - 5 and clog up the road making the road just as unusable. While this may be a major problem, there are a couple of minor problems too. Another problem is that people park in fire lanes and tow-away zones, that could be bad if there is a fire or someone’s car needs to be towed.

Experts

• Community Transit: Eric Goodman, Sarah Hayden, David True, Sabina Araya

• Diamond Traffic: Jesse Brady

• PUD: Alex Chorey

• Consulting Engineer: Dave Corwin 

• Piezoelectric Consultant:  Rich Brooks

Sources

• “The Lego Mindstorms EV3 Idea Book” By Yoshihito Isogawa

• “The Lego Mindstorms EV3 Discovery Book” By Laurens Valk

• “Build and Program Your Own Lego Mindstorms EV3 Robots” By Marziah Karch

• “Exploring Lego Mindstorms EV3” By Eun Jung Park

• “Building Smart Lego Mindstorm EV3 Robots” By Kyle Markland

• “Winning Design!” By William Jeffrey Trobaugh

• "Arduino Cookbook" By Michael Margolis

• E.E. Web

• Research Gate

• Tapeswitch

• Gale

• The Atlantic

• Wikipedia

• The Seattle Times

• Diamond Traffic

• NCBI

• MobilityLab

• Sound Transit 3