CASE STUDY KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CAR PARK SYSTEM Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) operates four car parks at
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2022 6:46 am
CASE STUDY
KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CAR PARK
SYSTEM
Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) operates four car parks at
Kotoka International Airport. The Authority has a requirement for a
new system to control its car parks. This system must provide for
the day-to-day operation of each car park—issuing tickets, handling
payment and controlling barriers—and the management of car
parks—recording problems, issuing season tickets and monitoring
service level agreements with the security company that guards the
car parks.
Operational System
The car park operational system controls entry to and exit from
a car park and payment for car parking.
There are two types of users: ordinary customers, who pay for
their use of each car park at the time they use it, and season
ticket holders, who pay a fixed amount in advance for parking for
three, six or twelve months in a specific car park. Season ticket
holders are allocated parking spaces in designated areas that are
not available to ordinary customers from Monday to Friday. Season
tickets are for weekdays only; the designated spaces are available
to all customers at week-ends. No more than 10% of the spaces in a
car park are allocated to season ticket holders.
Entry to the Car Park
When a car approaches an entry barrier, its presence is detected
by a sensor under the road surface, and a ‘Press Button’ display is
flashed on the control pillar.
The ordinary customer must press a button on the control pillar,
and a ticket is printed and issued. The ticket must be printed
within five seconds. A ‘Take Ticket’ display is flashed on the
control pillar. If the car park is full, no ticket is issued, and a
‘Full’ display is flashed on the control pillar. If a vehicle
leaves the car park, then the ‘Press Button’ display is activated
again where there is a vehicle waiting.
When the customer pulls the ticket from the control pillar, the
barrier is raised.
The season ticket holder does not press the button, but inserts
his or her season ticket into a slot on the control pillar. A check
is made that the season ticket is valid for this car park and has
not expired, that it is a weekday and that the season ticket holder
is not recorded as having already entered this car park and not
left. If all these checks are passed, then the barrier is raised.
The checks must take no longer than five seconds. A record is made
of the time of entry for that season ticket holder.
A sensor on the other side of the barrier detects when the car
has passed and the barrier is lowered.
The ticket issued to each ordinary customer has a bar code on
it. The bar code has a number on it and the date (ddmmyyyy) and
time (hhmmss) of entry to the car park. The number, date and time
of entry are also printed on the ticket in human readable form.
The details of the ticket are stored: ticket no., issue date,
issue time, issuing machine.
The number of vehicles in the car park is incremented by 1 and a
check is made against the capacity of the car park. If the car park
is full, then a display near the entrance is switched on to say
‘Car Park Full’, and no further tickets are issued until a vehicle
leaves the car park.
Payment
When the ordinary customer is ready to leave, he or she must go
to a pay station to pay. The ticket is inserted into a slot, and
the bar code is read. The ticket bar code information is compared
with the stored information. If the dates or times are not the
same, the ticket is ejected, and the customer is told (via an LCD
display) to go to the office. In the office, the attendant has a
bar code reader and can check a ticket. Typically the problem is
damage to the bar code on the ticket, and the attendant can use the
office system to calculate the charge, take payment and validate
the ticket (see below).
At the pay station, if the ticket dates and times are the same
as the bar code dates and times, then the current date and time are
obtained, and the duration of the stay in the car park is
calculated. From this the car park charge is calculated and
displayed on the LCD display. Calculation and display of the charge
must take no more than two seconds.
There are two tariffs: a short-stay tariff and a long-stay
tariff. These include the rates for weekdays from 8.00 am to 6.00
pm, and lower rates for entry after 6.00 pm and at week-ends. Each
car park uses either the short-stay tariff or the long-stay
tariff.
If no change is available, this information is displayed on the
LCD display.
The customer must then insert notes or coins to at least the
amount of the charge. Each note or coin is identified as it is
inserted and the value added to an accumulated amount and displayed
on the LCD display. Invalid notes are ejected from the note slot.
Invalid coins are dropped through into the return tray. A message
is displayed on the LCD display.
As soon as the amount accumulated exceeds the charge, the ticket
is validated. The current date and time are added to the stored
data for that ticket (payment date, payment time).
If the amount entered exceeds the charge and change is
available, then the amount of change is calculated and that amount
of change is released into the return tray. Otherwise, no change is
given. In either case, a message is displayed on the LCD
display.
The ticket has the payment date and time printed on it and is
ejected from the ticket slot.
A message is displayed telling the customer to press the
‘Receipt’ button if they need a receipt. If they press this button,
a receipt is printed and ejected into the receipt tray. The receipt
shows the Civil Aviation Authority address, address of the car
park, VAT number, date and amount paid.
A message is displayed for the customer telling them to take the
ticket back to their car and leave the car park within 15
minutes.
Leaving the Car Park
When the customer drives up to the exit barrier, the car is
detected by a sensor, and an ‘Insert Ticket’ display is flashed on
the control pillar. The customer must insert the ticket. The bar
code is read and a check is made that no more than 15 minutes have
elapsed since the payment time for that ticket. If more than 15
minutes have elapsed, an intercom in the control pillar is
activated and connected to the attendant in the car park office.
The customer can talk to the attendant, and the attendant can view
the details of the ticket on his or her computer. The attendant can
activate the barrier remotely, for example if there is a queue to
get out and the customer is likely to have been reasonably
delayed.
If no more than 15 minutes have elapsed, the barrier is raised.
A sensor on the other side of the barrier detects when the car has
passed and the barrier is lowered.
The number of vehicles in the car park is decremented by 1 and a
check is made against the capacity of the car park. If the car park
was full, then the display near the entrance is switched to say
‘Spaces’, and a check is made to see if any vehicles are waiting.
If they are, then the control pillar for the first waiting vehicle
is notified. If the driver of the vehicle waiting there does not
press the button (for example, because they have backed out and
left), then the control pillar for the next waiting vehicle is
notified.
At any time, the attendant can view the status of a pay station
or a barrier control pillar. Once a connection is made, the status
is updated every 10 seconds.
Season ticket holders do not have to go to the pay station, when
they are ready to leave the car park, they go to the exit and
insert their season ticket into a slot on the exit barrier control
pillar. The barrier is raised and a record is made of the time at
which the season ticket holder left.
Security Visit Recording
The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority has a contract with security
companies to visit the car parks at regular intervals. The contract
specifies the number of visits per day to each car park and the
minimum duration of each visit. Each car park has an office to
which the security guards have access. In the office is a card
reader similar to the one used for reading season tickets in the
control pillars. When a security guard arrives in a car park, he or
she puts a card into the card reader and the date and time of
arrival is recorded. When the security guard leaves, he or she puts
the card in again, and the departure time is recorded. (This card
also allows security guards to enter and leave the car park in the
same way as season ticket holders. However, this is not used to
record the arrival and departure of security guards, as they may
not be able to enter with a vehicle if there is a queue of cars at
the barrier.)
Currently, the Civil Aviation Authority uses two security
companies, but could use more or only one in the future. Each
security company is issued with a specific number of cards,
depending on the number of car parks they are responsible for. Each
security company is responsible for specific car parks.
Management System
The car park management system handles the aspects of managing
the car parks that are not part of the day-to-day operational
system.
Fault Recording
There is a requirement for a fault recording system to be used
to record all problems with car parks. Most faults are expected to
be with equipment (barriers, card readers, security cameras etc.)
although they can include things such as broken windows and doors.
Details of the fault and the date and time at which it was reported
are recorded. If the fault applies to equipment or some other
aspect of the operational system, there is a requirement that the
maintenance company must be notified straight away. For other
problems, the Aviation Authority’s direct labour organization will
be notified.
The date and time when faults have been fixed must also be
recorded, so that the Aviation Authority can monitor the service
level agreement with the maintenance company. There is a
requirement to be able to produce a monthly statistical report of
all faults, which organization they were allocated to and how long
they took to be fixed.
Security Service Level Agreement
There is a similar requirement in relation to the service level
agreement with the security companies. A monthly exception report
is required showing any occasions where the number of visits per
day to a car park fell below the contracted number or where the
duration of a visit was shorter than the contractual minimum.
Season Tickets
A sub-system is required for selling season tickets. Each season
ticket is issued to a named individual or company, and the address
and contact telephone number of that person or company is recorded.
Each season ticket is valid for three, six or twelve calendar
months, and the issue date and expiry date are recorded. The
information about season tickets has to be available to the
operational system for validation of access to the car parks.
A renewal form must be sent to each season ticket holder two
weeks before their season ticket is due to expire. If a season
ticket is renewed before its expiry date, then the new expiry date
is set as three, six or twelve months from the existing expiry
date.
A record must be kept of how much usage each season ticket
holder makes of their car park in terms of how much it would have
cost them to pay for the car park as an ordinary customer. This
information is used by the Civil Aviation Authority for its annual
review of season ticket prices. A report showing this information
is required.
Other Management Requirements
A record must be kept of all tickets for a year. When the Civil
Aviation Authority carries out its annual review of ticket prices,
it needs to be able to estimate the level of income for the coming
year by calculating the charges based on proposed new tariffs using
the previous year’s data.
Managing operational costs of the car parks — staffing, cost of
equipment, cost of maintenance agreements, cost of security etc.—
is not part of the requirements for this system. This is handled
elsewhere in the Aviation Authority’s financial systems.
Engagement of a System Analyst/Consultant
Considering the many problems that users have been encountering
with the current Kotoka International Airport Car Park System,
management of GCAA has appointed you as a System Analyst/Consultant
to lead its IT staff to upgrade the system. With recommendations
from the Board of Directors of GCAA, the Ministry of Transport has
secured a World Bank loan to support this project.
REQUIRED
1a i. Construct data flow diagrams (including a context level
diagram, a level 0 diagram, and several child diagrams) that show
important, representative parts of the proposed KIA Car Park
System. in addition to your answer, perform or provide
comprehensive technical, operational and economic feasibility
analyses of the proposed KIA Car Park System, and provide adequate
justification for it.
KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CAR PARK
SYSTEM
Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) operates four car parks at
Kotoka International Airport. The Authority has a requirement for a
new system to control its car parks. This system must provide for
the day-to-day operation of each car park—issuing tickets, handling
payment and controlling barriers—and the management of car
parks—recording problems, issuing season tickets and monitoring
service level agreements with the security company that guards the
car parks.
Operational System
The car park operational system controls entry to and exit from
a car park and payment for car parking.
There are two types of users: ordinary customers, who pay for
their use of each car park at the time they use it, and season
ticket holders, who pay a fixed amount in advance for parking for
three, six or twelve months in a specific car park. Season ticket
holders are allocated parking spaces in designated areas that are
not available to ordinary customers from Monday to Friday. Season
tickets are for weekdays only; the designated spaces are available
to all customers at week-ends. No more than 10% of the spaces in a
car park are allocated to season ticket holders.
Entry to the Car Park
When a car approaches an entry barrier, its presence is detected
by a sensor under the road surface, and a ‘Press Button’ display is
flashed on the control pillar.
The ordinary customer must press a button on the control pillar,
and a ticket is printed and issued. The ticket must be printed
within five seconds. A ‘Take Ticket’ display is flashed on the
control pillar. If the car park is full, no ticket is issued, and a
‘Full’ display is flashed on the control pillar. If a vehicle
leaves the car park, then the ‘Press Button’ display is activated
again where there is a vehicle waiting.
When the customer pulls the ticket from the control pillar, the
barrier is raised.
The season ticket holder does not press the button, but inserts
his or her season ticket into a slot on the control pillar. A check
is made that the season ticket is valid for this car park and has
not expired, that it is a weekday and that the season ticket holder
is not recorded as having already entered this car park and not
left. If all these checks are passed, then the barrier is raised.
The checks must take no longer than five seconds. A record is made
of the time of entry for that season ticket holder.
A sensor on the other side of the barrier detects when the car
has passed and the barrier is lowered.
The ticket issued to each ordinary customer has a bar code on
it. The bar code has a number on it and the date (ddmmyyyy) and
time (hhmmss) of entry to the car park. The number, date and time
of entry are also printed on the ticket in human readable form.
The details of the ticket are stored: ticket no., issue date,
issue time, issuing machine.
The number of vehicles in the car park is incremented by 1 and a
check is made against the capacity of the car park. If the car park
is full, then a display near the entrance is switched on to say
‘Car Park Full’, and no further tickets are issued until a vehicle
leaves the car park.
Payment
When the ordinary customer is ready to leave, he or she must go
to a pay station to pay. The ticket is inserted into a slot, and
the bar code is read. The ticket bar code information is compared
with the stored information. If the dates or times are not the
same, the ticket is ejected, and the customer is told (via an LCD
display) to go to the office. In the office, the attendant has a
bar code reader and can check a ticket. Typically the problem is
damage to the bar code on the ticket, and the attendant can use the
office system to calculate the charge, take payment and validate
the ticket (see below).
At the pay station, if the ticket dates and times are the same
as the bar code dates and times, then the current date and time are
obtained, and the duration of the stay in the car park is
calculated. From this the car park charge is calculated and
displayed on the LCD display. Calculation and display of the charge
must take no more than two seconds.
There are two tariffs: a short-stay tariff and a long-stay
tariff. These include the rates for weekdays from 8.00 am to 6.00
pm, and lower rates for entry after 6.00 pm and at week-ends. Each
car park uses either the short-stay tariff or the long-stay
tariff.
If no change is available, this information is displayed on the
LCD display.
The customer must then insert notes or coins to at least the
amount of the charge. Each note or coin is identified as it is
inserted and the value added to an accumulated amount and displayed
on the LCD display. Invalid notes are ejected from the note slot.
Invalid coins are dropped through into the return tray. A message
is displayed on the LCD display.
As soon as the amount accumulated exceeds the charge, the ticket
is validated. The current date and time are added to the stored
data for that ticket (payment date, payment time).
If the amount entered exceeds the charge and change is
available, then the amount of change is calculated and that amount
of change is released into the return tray. Otherwise, no change is
given. In either case, a message is displayed on the LCD
display.
The ticket has the payment date and time printed on it and is
ejected from the ticket slot.
A message is displayed telling the customer to press the
‘Receipt’ button if they need a receipt. If they press this button,
a receipt is printed and ejected into the receipt tray. The receipt
shows the Civil Aviation Authority address, address of the car
park, VAT number, date and amount paid.
A message is displayed for the customer telling them to take the
ticket back to their car and leave the car park within 15
minutes.
Leaving the Car Park
When the customer drives up to the exit barrier, the car is
detected by a sensor, and an ‘Insert Ticket’ display is flashed on
the control pillar. The customer must insert the ticket. The bar
code is read and a check is made that no more than 15 minutes have
elapsed since the payment time for that ticket. If more than 15
minutes have elapsed, an intercom in the control pillar is
activated and connected to the attendant in the car park office.
The customer can talk to the attendant, and the attendant can view
the details of the ticket on his or her computer. The attendant can
activate the barrier remotely, for example if there is a queue to
get out and the customer is likely to have been reasonably
delayed.
If no more than 15 minutes have elapsed, the barrier is raised.
A sensor on the other side of the barrier detects when the car has
passed and the barrier is lowered.
The number of vehicles in the car park is decremented by 1 and a
check is made against the capacity of the car park. If the car park
was full, then the display near the entrance is switched to say
‘Spaces’, and a check is made to see if any vehicles are waiting.
If they are, then the control pillar for the first waiting vehicle
is notified. If the driver of the vehicle waiting there does not
press the button (for example, because they have backed out and
left), then the control pillar for the next waiting vehicle is
notified.
At any time, the attendant can view the status of a pay station
or a barrier control pillar. Once a connection is made, the status
is updated every 10 seconds.
Season ticket holders do not have to go to the pay station, when
they are ready to leave the car park, they go to the exit and
insert their season ticket into a slot on the exit barrier control
pillar. The barrier is raised and a record is made of the time at
which the season ticket holder left.
Security Visit Recording
The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority has a contract with security
companies to visit the car parks at regular intervals. The contract
specifies the number of visits per day to each car park and the
minimum duration of each visit. Each car park has an office to
which the security guards have access. In the office is a card
reader similar to the one used for reading season tickets in the
control pillars. When a security guard arrives in a car park, he or
she puts a card into the card reader and the date and time of
arrival is recorded. When the security guard leaves, he or she puts
the card in again, and the departure time is recorded. (This card
also allows security guards to enter and leave the car park in the
same way as season ticket holders. However, this is not used to
record the arrival and departure of security guards, as they may
not be able to enter with a vehicle if there is a queue of cars at
the barrier.)
Currently, the Civil Aviation Authority uses two security
companies, but could use more or only one in the future. Each
security company is issued with a specific number of cards,
depending on the number of car parks they are responsible for. Each
security company is responsible for specific car parks.
Management System
The car park management system handles the aspects of managing
the car parks that are not part of the day-to-day operational
system.
Fault Recording
There is a requirement for a fault recording system to be used
to record all problems with car parks. Most faults are expected to
be with equipment (barriers, card readers, security cameras etc.)
although they can include things such as broken windows and doors.
Details of the fault and the date and time at which it was reported
are recorded. If the fault applies to equipment or some other
aspect of the operational system, there is a requirement that the
maintenance company must be notified straight away. For other
problems, the Aviation Authority’s direct labour organization will
be notified.
The date and time when faults have been fixed must also be
recorded, so that the Aviation Authority can monitor the service
level agreement with the maintenance company. There is a
requirement to be able to produce a monthly statistical report of
all faults, which organization they were allocated to and how long
they took to be fixed.
Security Service Level Agreement
There is a similar requirement in relation to the service level
agreement with the security companies. A monthly exception report
is required showing any occasions where the number of visits per
day to a car park fell below the contracted number or where the
duration of a visit was shorter than the contractual minimum.
Season Tickets
A sub-system is required for selling season tickets. Each season
ticket is issued to a named individual or company, and the address
and contact telephone number of that person or company is recorded.
Each season ticket is valid for three, six or twelve calendar
months, and the issue date and expiry date are recorded. The
information about season tickets has to be available to the
operational system for validation of access to the car parks.
A renewal form must be sent to each season ticket holder two
weeks before their season ticket is due to expire. If a season
ticket is renewed before its expiry date, then the new expiry date
is set as three, six or twelve months from the existing expiry
date.
A record must be kept of how much usage each season ticket
holder makes of their car park in terms of how much it would have
cost them to pay for the car park as an ordinary customer. This
information is used by the Civil Aviation Authority for its annual
review of season ticket prices. A report showing this information
is required.
Other Management Requirements
A record must be kept of all tickets for a year. When the Civil
Aviation Authority carries out its annual review of ticket prices,
it needs to be able to estimate the level of income for the coming
year by calculating the charges based on proposed new tariffs using
the previous year’s data.
Managing operational costs of the car parks — staffing, cost of
equipment, cost of maintenance agreements, cost of security etc.—
is not part of the requirements for this system. This is handled
elsewhere in the Aviation Authority’s financial systems.
Engagement of a System Analyst/Consultant
Considering the many problems that users have been encountering
with the current Kotoka International Airport Car Park System,
management of GCAA has appointed you as a System Analyst/Consultant
to lead its IT staff to upgrade the system. With recommendations
from the Board of Directors of GCAA, the Ministry of Transport has
secured a World Bank loan to support this project.
REQUIRED
1a i. Construct data flow diagrams (including a context level
diagram, a level 0 diagram, and several child diagrams) that show
important, representative parts of the proposed KIA Car Park
System. in addition to your answer, perform or provide
comprehensive technical, operational and economic feasibility
analyses of the proposed KIA Car Park System, and provide adequate
justification for it.