Defining parking price based on users' attitudes

Abstract

This paper discusses the possibility of managing parking demand by parking pricing. The response of users with different trip purposes to parking price increases (either continuing to travel to the zone by passenger car or shifting to alternative means of transport) was surveyed using face-to-face interviews in the Central Business District (CBD) in Belgrade (Serbia). These results, quantified through price elasticity coefficients, were used to develop the methodology for parking price (re)definition. The optimal parking price is defined as the price for which parking demand at the level of the desired use of the regular number of parking spaces has been predicted. Approximately 56% of parking space users in the current conditions stated that they would not give up travelling to the CBD by passenger car regardless of the parking price. Nonetheless, the price obtained by the applied methodology provided a balance between the supply and demand at the level between 84% and 98% of utilisation of the available number of parking spaces during the period subject to charge.