Advanced Parking Management Systems: Models of Drivers' Parking Strategies

Advanced Parking Management Systems (APMS's) are being designed as part of the Intelligent Transportation Systems effort. APMS's utilize variable message signs that provide drivers with real-time information on the availability of parking at alternative lots in downtown areas, airports, or other relatively congested parking environments. The goal of this study was to identify and model the strategies people employ when deciding where to park. Specifically, three experiments, a pencil-and-paper survey and two driving simulator studies, were conducted to determine which of four hypothetical decision rules most accurately describes drivers' parking choice strategies. Two-thirds of the participants were found to employ a lexicographic strategy, choosing the lot nearest the final destination if the number of open spaces was above some criterion. The remaining one-third of the participants were found to employ a more computationally intensive strategy, choosing the lot which minimized the total expected travel time.