An examination of the factors that influence drivers’ willingness to use the parking guidance information

Abstract

Parking Guidance and Information (PGI) System becomes highly favorable for reducing circulating traffic and making efficient use of existing parking facilities. This paper is to examine the factors influence drivers’ willingness to use PGI. Factor analysis and the Structure Equation Model (SEM) were used to identify the latent attitudinal factors and the sensitivity of the factors was judged by Bayesian network. The heterogeneity of the factors was explored based on driver’s gender, age, driving years, education and travel frequency. The results show that drivers’ willingness to use PGI is significantly correlated to five attitudinal factors: perception of existing PGIs, difficulty in parking, confidence in the accuracy of the information, easy acquisition of information and information attributes. Male drivers, younger drivers, novice drivers and drivers who travel less frequently have lower level of willingness to use PGI.