A PARKING SEARCH MODEL

Parking plays an important role in urban transport systems. However, t here is currently a lack of understanding of how motorists choose car parks. This paper presents a model that represents the parking search behaviour of motorists. A search process was defined within a behaviou ral modelling framework and subsequently represented using analytical procedures. Relationships for estimating the utility of a car park inc orporating access, waiting, direct and egress cost components were dev eloped. Parameters were specified to represent the uncertain attribute s of car parks, including queue sizes and departure rates. The size an d composition of the choice sets of individual motorists were determin ed endogenously by the model. Searchers' perceptions of car park attri butes based on their observations from previous and current searching experiences were represented. Applications of the model showed that lo ng term experience does not necessarily lead to better choices. The ef fects of reducing duration limits were also investigated. (C) 1998 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.