Parking management and modeling of car park patron behavior in underground facilities

Underground parking facilities in urban areas or central business districts have incorporated many information and communications technologies to provide better service, to achieve customer satisfaction, and to improve parking management. But the diversity of the off-street parking supply in terms of parking access and revenue control systems, the information offered, costs, and benefits suggests that the efficiencies of certain improvements in parking facility operations and the ultimate profitability obtained as a result of the corresponding investment made by the parking operator need to be compared. The present investigation focuses on the operations of and the behavior of parking patrons in underground parking facilities, a common type of facility in Barcelona, Spain. To model patron behavior, commonly known desegregated models based on the random utility theory were adapted to facilitate an understanding of how parking patrons decide to use a particular garage level and determine their preferences for a particular garage level. The decisions made depend on the accuracy and the convenience of the information offered. The study finds that an intelligent parking management system that tells a customer the exact locations of the available spaces is of great benefit to patrons and in the long run is a cost-effective alternative to operators because the operator can achieve financial profitability with small increases in the parking rate, and in competitive environments patrons will prefer facilities with these systems over others. The conclusions presented in this paper will be particularly useful to planners, developers, and managers.