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Bike4Fun
11-30-2016, 08:51 PM
Hoping a Duke Engineer steps up and figures out a quicker way to empty the beast of our parking garage, other than game over with 5 to go.

BD80
11-30-2016, 09:50 PM
Hoping a Duke Engineer steps up and figures out a quicker way to empty the beast of our parking garage, other than game over with 5 to go.

Bicycle.

CameronBlue
11-30-2016, 10:04 PM
Bicycle.

The stunt drivers from The Bourne Supremacy, they seem to have little trouble with Parking Deck geometry

ipatent
11-30-2016, 10:06 PM
Is there a new garage by the athletic facilities now?

lifelongdevil
11-30-2016, 10:14 PM
Hoping a Duke Engineer steps up and figures out a quicker way to empty the beast of our parking garage, other than game over with 5 to go.

Agreed, been parking in that lot off 751 for a decade and last night was the worst traffic I've experienced trying to leave.

uh_no
11-30-2016, 11:08 PM
Agreed, been parking in that lot off 751 for a decade and last night was the worst traffic I've experienced trying to leave.

To be fair, the number of cars trying to get out just went up by like 6x...so you would expect to be more traffic dumping onto that road, and thus slower for everyone to get out.

I'd expect them to fiddle with the traffic patterns as time goes on.

Me, I'll continue parking in the allen lot...where there is no traffic! The walk through main quad is always welcome, though i recognize not everyone is as mobile and sympathize with their plight.

UrinalCake
11-30-2016, 11:49 PM
Me, I'll continue parking in the allen lot...where there is no traffic!


SSSHHHHHH! No one is supposed to know about that lot :)

ricks68
12-01-2016, 12:47 AM
SSSHHHHHH! No one is supposed to know about that lot :)

Please close this thread and remove these last few posts.

ricks

DU82
12-01-2016, 06:15 AM
Hoping a Duke Engineer steps up and figures out a quicker way to empty the beast of our parking garage, other than game over with 5 to go.

So what would you do? You're dumping about 1000 vehicles onto 751. At an ideal two second headway, it would take a little over 30 minutes to empty the deck at the exit. But you don't get that ideal headway because once on 751, you also have traffic from other lots there. It's typically been backed up from Erwin to the deck exit. A decade ago, it was worse leaving the 751 lot because they didn't block off a lane on 751 to allow an free flow exit. (I got them to change that a few years ago when I consulted with the game day operations folks on traffic.)

It took us maybe ten minutes to exit from level three (I'll time it the next crowded game; most people think have a bad sense of time in that they typically think a wait is much longer than it really is.). Try going somewhere else, such as PNC Arena, and leave just after the game. Much longer wait (admittedly, more people.). The worst was the last game in the Meadowlands, where there was no order, and you had drivers cutting across aisles to crowd the exit.

There's a few tweaks I'll suggest, including just allowing the drivers to merge into the exit lane on their own. Having the workers stop aisles to allow others to go isn't very good, as those directing traffic tend to react to what's right in from of them, not seeing what's just beyond their view. Some queues are very short, while the one just out of sight is very long. It's quicker/fairer to have the alternate, or zipper merge. (One vehicle at a time from each approach at each merge.) Overall, it flows better and is less hectic.

Another issue we saw was on the walkway next to the track. With the construction on Bassett Drive, The temporary path close to Science Drive is much narrower than the new concrete walkway, and it created a pinch point where the walking traffic jammed up. This could be dangerous, if those approaching push and crowd those with nowhere to go (limited/stopped by the traffic workers/police stopping the flow at the crosswalks to allow vehicles to move.)

We've been "spoiled" by having blowouts, and people leaving the game before it ends, or since the other games were earlier, having people linger in Cameron longer. That spread out the time that people left, making the flow smoother. But overall, it really wasn't bad considering all factors.

mpj96
12-01-2016, 07:39 AM
So what would you do? You're dumping about 1000 vehicles onto 751. At an ideal two second headway, it would take a little over 30 minutes to empty the deck at the exit. But you don't get that ideal headway because once on 751, you also have traffic from other lots there. It's typically been backed up from Erwin to the deck exit. A decade ago, it was worse leaving the 751 lot because they didn't block off a lane on 751 to allow an free flow exit. (I got them to change that a few years ago when I consulted with the game day operations folks on traffic.)

It took us maybe ten minutes to exit from level three (I'll time it the next crowded game; most people think have a bad sense of time in that they typically think a wait is much longer than it really is.). Try going somewhere else, such as PNC Arena, and leave just after the game. Much longer wait (admittedly, more people.). The worst was the last game in the Meadowlands, where there was no order, and you had drivers cutting across aisles to crowd the exit.

There's a few tweaks I'll suggest, including just allowing the drivers to merge into the exit lane on their own. Having the workers stop aisles to allow others to go isn't very good, as those directing traffic tend to react to what's right in from of them, not seeing what's just beyond their view. Some queues are very short, while the one just out of sight is very long. It's quicker/fairer to have the alternate, or zipper merge. (One vehicle at a time from each approach at each merge.) Overall, it flows better and is less hectic.

Another issue we saw was on the walkway next to the track. With the construction on Bassett Drive, The temporary path close to Science Drive is much narrower than the new concrete walkway, and it created a pinch point where the walking traffic jammed up. This could be dangerous, if those approaching push and crowd those with nowhere to go (limited/stopped by the traffic workers/police stopping the flow at the crosswalks to allow vehicles to move.)

We've been "spoiled" by having blowouts, and people leaving the game before it ends, or since the other games were earlier, having people linger in Cameron longer. That spread out the time that people left, making the flow smoother. But overall, it really wasn't bad considering all factors.

Good analysis. Our wait on level 4 was 30 minutes. Tough when you've got a 2 hr ride home and the game starts at 9:30.

No reason for the guy at the entrance to tell you what level you will park in either. Just slows down and confuses folks. There are attendants who tell you what level is open when you get there.

Bike4Fun
12-01-2016, 07:46 AM
I hope we fans will figure out zipper merge as a form of ettiquite. I was 22-24min from 4th level. Agree that they'll likely tweak things; each close game is an experiment. Maybe use both lanes on ramp at all levels, 2 open gates to exit on 751 instead of 1, with a policeman to intermittently stop the exiting left gate to allow 751 traffic? Figuring it out now will help football, which could have even more problems.

FadedTackyShirt
12-01-2016, 08:33 AM
Our parking strategy is intermingled with our dealing with scalpers strategy. Park at the Washington Duke, have some pre-game pops, start walking to CIS precisely 30 mins before tip, buy tickets at or below face either in the parking lot before the soccer field or by Wallace Wade, and be in our seats with five minutes to spare. Have a post game drink back at the WD and by then traffic has cleared.

BandAlum83
12-01-2016, 09:40 PM
Hoping a Duke Engineer steps up and figures out a quicker way to empty the beast of our parking garage, other than game over with 5 to go.

I sincerely thought this thread was a metaphor for how we get the Ferrari, Lamborghini and Masserati out of the garage and into the game before it's (the season) over.

Imagine my confusion when I saw the Bicycle response.

pamtar
12-01-2016, 10:09 PM
SSSHHHHHH! No one is supposed to know about that lot :)

That was one of the first tips I got when we moved up here last year. I've used my wife's pass and parked there for the handful of games I've been to since last season. Cat's out of the bag, PottyMint.