Light blue lot Stinks

[Upstream]

I think many have a false impression of how many parking spaces these lots hold.
Here's a rough guess: Please correct me if you know better.

Scarlet - 900
Green - 500
White - 250
Yellow - 700
Blue - 1500
Purple - 1500
Black - ?
Tan - ?
Lt Blue - ?
Silver ?

It takes a real commitment to get one of the 4000 odd spaces in the most desirable lots.
Now remember that the way it works every new vehicle in a lot pushes someone else out. This causes a trickle-down effect that can cause over half of a lots inhabitants to be pushed down to the next in a given year (like this one).
This is the first year afaik that we have seen R Fund donors assigned parking at the RAC.

The aesthetics around the light-blue will improve once the new chemistry building is done. But once the new engineering building project begins, the current purple lot will effectively go away. That's going to upset a lot of football fans. New premium parking lots need to be found and developed. Once people get pushed out to the point where their parking assignment is no longer "premium", they will stop donating (above what their tickets require).

In the physical master plan there is a ton of parking all around the perimeter of Busch campus. Some / most of that is where buildings stand today. There needs to be a reasonable plan to provide the needed premium parking (to encourage donating) while this long-term transition is underway.

The Scarlet lot is easy since the spaces are painted; you can just count on a satellite photo. There are about 650 spaces in the Scarlet lot.

I also think you are over estimating the other lots. Green is much smaller than Scarlet. And there is no way that Blue is more than twice the size of Yellow.

I think more reasonable estimates are

Scarlet 650
Green 350
White 200
Yellow 800
Blue 1000
Purple 1000

If the lots are smaller than your estimate, that makes the trickle-down effect of additional cars looking for premium lots even more severe.

 

[Scarlet16e2]

remember they cut a third off of yellow, maybe half, when they built the visitor center.

Your numbers make it even more clear just how valuable the first 3000 spaces are.

 

[PhDKnight]

Isn't the auction essentially what they are doing in terms of priority points. You earn priority points all year, and then after the cut off date, you are assigned parking based on the points you've accrued. If your auction isn't based on priority points, how does your auction work? How do people bid on parking? Does the ticket office call each person? Give me workable specifics.

There are 2 problems that I am trying to solve with this plan -

1) Make the process of getting into a specific parking lot transparent. The 1st problem that I have, and I believe most people have, with the current system is that from year to year we have no idea how much money we need to donate ahead of time to get into a specific lot. Making the matter even worse is that the AD has been introducing bonus point systems that change every year which create further volatility in the PP cutoffs. The 2nd problem that I have is that the number of spots in each lot and the number of spots claimed does not seem to add up when you walk through the lot on game day. Having an auction/dynamic pricing sale puts everything out in the open the school publishes how many spaces are available in each lot and you start the price high and drop it in increments until the lot is full or the price goes to $0.

2) The AD is not maximizing donations with the current system. I have found that most season ticket holders are uninterested in playing a game where you guess how much you are going to need to donate for a specific lot, so instead they donate the minimum or close to it, let the chips fall where they may and ***** about it after the fact. Many of these same people would be happy to donate more to get the parking they wanted if they knew where the finish line was. For example, I am not going to donate an extra $100 per seat on the chance I might get my desired parking, but I would be happy to donate an extra $200 per seat if I knew it would guarantee my desired lot.

To reward those with the most PP and keep them from bitching too much I would choose Options 2 from what I had previously proposed, i.e. - partially fill the lots and then run the auction/dynamic pricing sale. In other words, using your example - Red would be filled with the top 50 PP holders, Yellow with the next 50, Blue with the next 50, Purple with the next 50, Black with the next 50 and the remaining 450 at the RAC. You would then run an auction to let people upgrade lots.

The auction or sale could be run via a live website that could be designed like the fantasy football auction draft I did last night on CBS Sports (who runs our site) or a site like EBay, Stubhub or Quibids. Those with more PPs would be given a sliding credit for lot upgrades based on their PPs to be fair. You would let the sale begin at a ridiculous number like $500/game for Red parking and let the price fall from there until the lot is full or the price goes to $0 (or some minimum) and then repeat for each lot thereafter. For those not CPU inclined they could call their rep and have them place auto buys at specific price points on their behalf prior to the sale beginning, like many do with stock trading software/platforms.

 

[RBS05]

For example, I am not going to donate an extra $100 per seat on the chance I might get my desired parking, but I would be happy to donate an extra $200 per seat if I knew it would guarantee my desired lot.

Okay, so let's say there's 50 open spots in this desired lot. 100 people choose the option you're outlining to pay an extra $200 to *guarantee* the lot.

Now what?

 

[RBS05]

Ah I see, you want Rutgers football parking to operate like multi-billion dollar stock trading platforms. Now it makes sense.

 

[PhDKnight]

It's an auction that starts at a ridiculously high number and drops in increments until all the spots are purchased. By definition there cannot be an oversubscription, just like on EBAY or similar.

Okay, so let's say there's 50 open spots in this desired lot. 100 people choose the option you're outlining to pay an extra $200 to *guarantee* the lot.

Now what?

 

[rags]

RU should use some of the parking donations to invest in a few of these

 

[PhDKnight]

Ah I see, you want Rutgers football parking to operate like multi-billion dollar stock trading platforms. Now it makes sense.

It's an auction website that could be easily designed by any professional developer in short order or probably by a top undergrad. For a senior design project.

 

[jabbs1]

I was in the Black Lot last year and the walk from the Lt. Blue is not that much worse. The big difference seems to be that the tailgating was pretty dead in the Lt. Blue. I hope it gets a little more lively.

 

[Raritan83]

It's an auction website that could be easily designed by any professional developer in short order or probably by a top undergrad. For a senior design project.

Or we just could keep the system that we currently have which is simple to administer, rewards the people who donate the most while also having a component which rewards long time season ticket holders.

 

[Vejai]

There are 2 problems that I am trying to solve with this plan -

1) Make the process of getting into a specific parking lot transparent. The 1st problem that I have, and I believe most people have, with the current system is that from year to year we have no idea how much money we need to donate ahead of time to get into a specific lot. Making the matter even worse is that the AD has been introducing bonus point systems that change every year which create further volatility in the PP cutoffs. The 2nd problem that I have is that the number of spots in each lot and the number of spots claimed does not seem to add up when you walk through the lot on game day. Having an auction/dynamic pricing sale puts everything out in the open the school publishes how many spaces are available in each lot and you start the price high and drop it in increments until the lot is full or the price goes to $0.

2) The AD is not maximizing donations with the current system. I have found that most season ticket holders are uninterested in playing a game where you guess how much you are going to need to donate for a specific lot, so instead they donate the minimum or close to it, let the chips fall where they may and ***** about it after the fact. Many of these same people would be happy to donate more to get the parking they wanted if they knew where the finish line was. For example, I am not going to donate an extra $100 per seat on the chance I might get my desired parking, but I would be happy to donate an extra $200 per seat if I knew it would guarantee my desired lot.

To reward those with the most PP and keep them from bitching too much I would choose Options 2 from what I had previously proposed, i.e. - partially fill the lots and then run the auction/dynamic pricing sale. In other words, using your example - Red would be filled with the top 50 PP holders, Yellow with the next 50, Blue with the next 50, Purple with the next 50, Black with the next 50 and the remaining 450 at the RAC. You would then run an auction to let people upgrade lots.

The auction or sale could be run via a live website that could be designed like the fantasy football auction draft I did last night on CBS Sports (who runs our site) or a site like EBay, Stubhub or Quibids. Those with more PPs would be given a sliding credit for lot upgrades based on their PPs to be fair. You would let the sale begin at a ridiculous number like $500/game for Red parking and let the price fall from there until the lot is full or the price goes to $0 (or some minimum) and then repeat for each lot thereafter. For those not CPU inclined they could call their rep and have them place auto buys at specific price points on their behalf prior to the sale beginning, like many do with stock trading software/platforms.

I'm not sure what your PHD is in but this is a convoluted solution to the preceived problem. The current system is setup with the KISS logic that is much more practical. This is one of the reasons that people think twice before hiring PhDs for certain jobs.

 

[RUaMoose_rivals]

RU should use some of the parking donations to invest in a few of these

Watch the tram car please !

 

[PhDKnight]

I'm not sure what your PHD is in but this is a convoluted solution to the preceived problem. The current system is setup with the KISS logic that is much more practical. This is one of the reasons that people think twice before hiring PhDs for certain jobs.

I can assure that what I am proposing is KISS for anyone under 40 with a college degree and an Internet connection. Did you also think smartphones were a fad?

What is hard to understand is using an antiquated, opaque, inefficient system that does not maximize donations and customer happiness when the technology exists to overcome those problems.

 

[Scarlet16e2]

Smartphones aren't a fad?
[winking]

 

[Raritan83]

I can assure that what I am proposing is KISS for anyone under 40 with a college degree and an Internet connection. Did you also think smartphones were a fad?

What is hard to understand is using an antiquated, opaque, inefficient system that does not maximize donations and customer happiness when the technology exists to overcome those problems.

Under 40. Graduate degree. Your plan is convoluted.

 

[PhDKnight]

Do you also think quibids, ebay, stub hub and other market and auction based websites are convoluted? Do you have a hard time understanding how auction fantasy drafts work or daily fantasy values?

Do you think it is just easier if ticketmaster or a retailer just tells you the price you pay for something and you either pay it or go without?

Ticketmaster is the 1900's way of doing business and auction sales are the present. Even ticketmaster runs auctions these days!

The current parking system is ticketmaster. I am proposing something like the market and auction based sites. If that appears convoluted to you we will have to agree to disagree.

 

[CornerTavern]

Rutgers can;t even figure out how to count May and June donations towards ANYTHING (current or future year)... they go into a black hole.

I think dynamic pricing is asking for a lot.

But they should be more transparent about how many spaces are in each lot - and whether or why the lots are not filling.

The Blue lot is definitely not close to full. it was half roped off.

 

[DHajekRC84]

RU should use some of the parking donations to invest in a few of these

people will laugh but I have saying it for a couple of years and completely agree. Wonder what a couple would cost and who you could get to sponsor? Heck, they could even charge $2 bucks a ride and I bet it would sell out.

 

[Upstream]

The auction or sale could be run via a live website that could be designed like the fantasy football auction draft I did last night on CBS Sports (who runs our site) or a site like EBay, Stubhub or Quibids.

So assuming that Rutgers invested into a live auction website, I still don't understand how that would work. Does that mean I have to cancel all my plans on April 30 so I can monitor the bids and get my parking before the auction closes at 9 pm. That seems to be incredibly inconvenient. What if I'm on a business trip or in the hospital and I can't get myself free.

The current system is fairly straight forward. Using the example I gave earlier, I make donations throughout the year to earn priority points. (I do agree with your comment that the bonus points create needless volatility.) On April 30, if I am in the top 100 people ranked in priority point order, I get the Red lot. If I am 101-200, I get the Yellow lot.

How does your plan work? When do I make my donations? What do I need to do to get a lot assigned to me?

Give me the details. For example, tell me that I need to log in in the first week of January, when Red parking is $500 per game ($3500 for the season), Yellow is $400, Blue is $350, etc. I can buy a pass then, and be guaranteed the lot I choose (as long as I am among the first 100 people to log in and request that lot -- since in my example each lot holds 100 cars). Or I can wait for the price to drop. Each Monday at noon, the price drops $25. If I want to buy a pass for a lot at the lower price, I need to be one of the first people to log in at noon on Monday. Once a lot sell out, no one else can buy a pass. To accommodate priority points, each priority point is worth $5 toward parking. So if I have 100 priority points, I get $500 toward parking, meaning that I only have to pay $3000 in cash instead of $3500 for a season pass for Red.

So tell me how this works. Because once you start spelling out the details, I think you'll start to realize that it is either unworkable, or will put an onerous burden on fans who don't want to be forced to log in every Monday at noon (for example).

 

[bigbirdru]

I wish they could have given us a little warning. I got bumped to the RAC also and if I had known that I would not have paid for parking this year.

Same thing happened to me. Young Alumni, 3rd year with the tickets. in 3 years I've gone from Silver, Light Blue to RAC. The purpose of the young alumni tickets is to get new season ticket holders in the habit, but they have bumped me so far from the tailgating scene (which is a huge part of the experience) I'll chose not to buy a parking pass next year.

 

[jabbs1]

Does anyone know if there is a shuttle near the Light Blue lot? I am going with my dad, who will have difficulty making the walk.

 

[srru86]

Does anyone know if there is a shuttle near the Light Blue lot? I am going with my dad, who will have difficulty making the walk.

Looks like the closest pick up is Allison and Frelinghuysen Roads?
for Knightingale.
I thought I 've seen shuttle buses picking up folks from that lot but it might have been stadium employee shutttle?

 

[Upstream]

Does anyone know if there is a shuttle near the Light Blue lot? I am going with my dad, who will have difficulty making the walk.

Your best bet is to call the ticket office and ask them about accommodations for the elderly to get from the Light Blue lot to the Stadium.

 

[RU#1fan]

You guys just want something for nothing. The complainers should just drop parking altogether. I'm sure Johnson Park will increase pricing if demand triples, and the school will still sell out all of the priority lots, just like it does now. If the school stops selling out the lots, they will have to revaluate their system. If they continue selling them out, there is no reason to make them any cheaper.

Not so sure on that. Might sell out but be with a lot fewer donations (donors) overall. Not good if this happens,

 

[Upstream]

Not so sure on that. Might sell out but be with a lot fewer donations (donors) overall. Not good if this happens,

With few exceptions, the people in the Scarlet, Green, Yellow, and Blue lots are not going to drop their season parking for potential game day parking in Johnson Park. I don't think a lot of people from Purple or Black would drop season parking either. So it is really people who park in the outer Busch lots or the RAC who might give up their season parking and opt for gameday parking instead. But one of the reasons these people are in the outer lots is because they are not donating a lot --- probably nothing more than the minimal donations required for their seats. So Rutgers really isn't at risk of losing donations if these people give up season parking.

 

[RU848789]

With few exceptions, the people in the Scarlet, Green, Yellow, and Blue lots are not going to drop their season parking for potential game day parking in Johnson Park. I don't think a lot of people from Purple or Black would drop season parking either. So it is really people who park in the outer Busch lots or the RAC who might give up their season parking and opt for gameday parking instead. But one of the reasons these people are in the outer lots is because they are not donating a lot --- probably nothing more than the minimal donations required for their seats. So Rutgers really isn't at risk of losing donations if these people give up season parking.

Exactly. And most of us in these lots actually are donating more than we used to, just to make sure we stay away from the riff-raff in the outer lots. In fact, most of us have so much extra money lying around that we all buy tons of extra scarlet/yellow/green/brown/white lot passes and simply don't use them, so we have more room in the back of the lots to to toss the football around during tailgates. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

 

[e5fdny]

Does anyone know if there is a shuttle near the Light Blue lot? I am going with my dad, who will have difficulty making the walk.

Your best bet is to call the ticket office and ask them about accommodations for the elderly to get from the Light Blue lot to the Stadium.

And when you get an asnwer, let me know.

 

[bac2therac]

the blue lot has not been anywhere near full for the first 3 home games, no one can tell me that they didn't cut back the amount of blue lot passes they were going to give out

 

[Scarlet16e2]

Why don't we see how it is tomorrow. The first conf. Game.

 

[fg7321]

I will take my chances and not buy parking next year and park at Johnson Park the Greek church or the RAC on occasion. there is no incentive to buy a pass if you don't have the points to get on Busch Campus....

 

[superfan01]

the blue lot has not been anywhere near full for the first 3 home games, no one can tell me that they didn't cut back the amount of blue lot passes they were going to give out

I agree and the yellow is also less. Either they sold less to get people to pay up next year or to they did it to spread out the traffic more to make exiting the lots easier.
Either way the premium lots are a lot less filled.

 

[JPhoboken]

Yellow lot is by far and away the best lot for getting in and out of games. Moved there 3yrs ago from Purple, which I liked for the atmosphere and paved lots.

I will never look back again and get any other lot

Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

 

[Jtung230]

the blue lot has not been anywhere near full for the first 3 home games, no one can tell me that they didn't cut back the amount of blue lot passes they were going to give out

The club seats are never full too. They should just give it away.

 

[Rutgers36]

With few exceptions, the people in the Scarlet, Green, Yellow, and Blue lots are not going to drop their season parking for potential game day parking in Johnson Park. I don't think a lot of people from Purple or Black would drop season parking either. So it is really people who park in the outer Busch lots or the RAC who might give up their season parking and opt for gameday parking instead. But one of the reasons these people are in the outer lots is because they are not donating a lot --- probably nothing more than the minimal donations required for their seats. So Rutgers really isn't at risk of losing donations if these people give up season parking.

Here's the problem though. Many of those low donors you don't care about are young alumni and the future fanbase. And if you treat these developing donors like trash, instead of working their way up to Scarlet they just ditch the tickets. Tailgating is obviously a huge part of the experience for the younger fan, especially a borderline one, so if you eliminate that for them maybe they give up the tix. Squeezing every drop out of the 20k diehards and discarding the rest is not the way to do things. You need to cultivate recent grads that are on the borderline and grow the diehard base, so in the future it is 30 or 40k

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Bring the party with you. Make whatever lot you are in into the lot to be in.

 

[rurichdog]

So assuming that Rutgers invested into a live auction website, I still don't understand how that would work. Does that mean I have to cancel all my plans on April 30 so I can monitor the bids and get my parking before the auction closes at 9 pm. That seems to be incredibly inconvenient. What if I'm on a business trip or in the hospital and I can't get myself free.

The current system is fairly straight forward. Using the example I gave earlier, I make donations throughout the year to earn priority points. (I do agree with your comment that the bonus points create needless volatility.) On April 30, if I am in the top 100 people ranked in priority point order, I get the Red lot. If I am 101-200, I get the Yellow lot.

How does your plan work? When do I make my donations? What do I need to do to get a lot assigned to me?

Give me the details. For example, tell me that I need to log in in the first week of January, when Red parking is $500 per game ($3500 for the season), Yellow is $400, Blue is $350, etc. I can buy a pass then, and be guaranteed the lot I choose (as long as I am among the first 100 people to log in and request that lot -- since in my example each lot holds 100 cars). Or I can wait for the price to drop. Each Monday at noon, the price drops $25. If I want to buy a pass for a lot at the lower price, I need to be one of the first people to log in at noon on Monday. Once a lot sell out, no one else can buy a pass. To accommodate priority points, each priority point is worth $5 toward parking. So if I have 100 priority points, I get $500 toward parking, meaning that I only have to pay $3000 in cash instead of $3500 for a season pass for Red.

So tell me how this works. Because once you start spelling out the details, I think you'll start to realize that it is either unworkable, or will put an onerous burden on fans who don't want to be forced to log in every Monday at noon (for example).

Day 1 the system crashes & burns. Everyone gets mad.
Day 2 the hacker who is getting paid to bring down the RU networks shuts it down. Everyone gets mad again.
Day 3 the Star-Ledger finds out it is costing the University more to manage this system than it brings in in profits. Everyone gets mad again.

 

[RU848789]

Bring the party with you. Make whatever lot you are in into the lot to be in.

Thanks, Damone...

 

[Upstream]

Here's the problem though. Many of those low donors you don't care about are young alumni and the future fanbase. And if you treat these developing donors like trash, instead of working their way up to Scarlet they just ditch the tickets. Tailgating is obviously a huge part of the experience for the younger fan, especially a borderline one, so if you eliminate that for them maybe they give up the tix. Squeezing every drop out of the 20k diehards and discarding the rest is not the way to do things. You need to cultivate recent grads that are on the borderline and grow the diehard base, so in the future it is 30 or 40k

But the current system works for new ticket holders, and especially young alumni. Young alumni get discounted season tickets. They aren't 50-yard-line tickets, but they don't expect the best seats in the house. Likewise, they don't expect the best parking without paying for it. But the young alumni know that if they keep buying tickets and steadily increase their donations (beyond the minimum required for their seats), they can work their way up to the closer lots in a few years.

The people who object to the current system essentially want to create a way to grandfather themselves into the better lots, so they can keep their Yellow and Blue passes without the required donations. But if these people keep their passes without donating, then they are shutting out the Young Alumni who are willing to donate, and willing to increase their donations as their incomes increase.

Anyone who is in their 20s and is currently parking at the RAC, Light Blue, Silver, or Tan lots, has to like the current system because it at least gives them an opportunity to move into the closer lots by the time they are in their 30s.

(Of course, if you are in your 30s, and have had tickets since you graduated 10 years ago, and you are still out in those lots, then you really haven't been making any donations beyond the minimum. You have the opportunity to start increasing your donations to move closer. But if you are still in those outer lots by the time you are in your 40s and have been going to games for 20 years, you have to face reality and realize that you are not a person who makes even moderate donations; let's not pretend that Rutgers is losing out on potential future donations from you because you don't like your parking. Instead of grandfathering you into the better lots, Rutgers rightfully gives the young alumni who donate the opportunity to move up and take your spot. That is the right move, because it is those young alumni who donate who will eventually make the $1000+ or $10,000+ or $100,000+ donations that Rutgers needs.)

 

[RU#1fan]

I agree and the yellow is also less. Either they sold less to get people to pay up next year or to they did it to spread out the traffic more to make exiting the lots easier.
Either way the premium lots are a lot less filled.

Bingo. We have a winner.
Sticking it to the bigger donors. Make their levels higher each year( PP per lot) while keeping the supply down.
Actually this RU screw is a brilliant money maker.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Some good points in this thread but there are two things I picked up that make the most sense. The outer lots- while they are cheaper(donations) though, of course, less desirable(distance to the stadium) there should be an attempt by the school to make it at least a little better of an atmosphere to get the new fans more interest in coming, experiencing and having fun. These are the fans that will support our future.
The other point are the bumps vs being grandfathered. At first thought, my feeling would be that grandfathering a long time supporter would make sense. After reading one of the posts above, it makes less sense. If you are in a desirable location, you will have to pony up for it. If you don't, it is dimishing returns for the school and it blocks the up and comer from moving up to the better locations.

BTW- I never understood why anyone wants to sit in traffic after the game. Sit back with your friends after the game and unwind a little. Within 40 minutes of the game ending, you can leave without an issue from anywhere.