Curb Parking Research Articles

Tackling cruising for parking with an online system of curb parking space reservations

Cruising for parking represents a loss of efficiency to the private car. It generates a waste of time and fuel, worsens congestion and increases pollutant emissions.Most approaches trying to mitigate cruising on the street use price to manage demand. Here, an online system of curb parking space reservations is proposed. Reservations eliminate the uncertainties that lead to cruising, and by designing the system within the new paradigm of parking planning and management, transport policy objectives of equity and sustainability can be pursued.To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system, a case study in Lisbon was conducted. Firstly, cruising for parking was assessed, and showed a daily average of 10% of observed traffic to be cruising, in an area with several transit alternatives. Then, potential demand for the reservations service was also addressed. Next, a model of traffic and cruising behavior was developed and calibrated with the observed data, and a stochastic discrete-event micro-simulator was implemented and validated. Finally, simulations were used to compare scenarios of variable allocation of parking spaces to reservations.The results show a statistically significant reduction of total travel time of up to 3% of the value without reservations.

Do Street Fairs Boost Local Businesses? A Quasi-Experimental Analysis

Local businesses and retail stores are a crucial part of local economy. Local governments design policies for facilitating the growth of these businesses that can consequently have positive externalities on the local community. However, many times these policies have completely opposite from the expected results (e.g., free curb parking instead of helping businesses has been illustrated to actually hurt them due to the small turnover per spot). Hence, it is important to evaluate the outcome of such policies in order to provide educated decisions for the future. In the era of social and ubiquitous computing, mobile social media, such as Foursquare, form a platform that can help towards this goal. Data from these platforms capture semantic information of human mobility from which we can distill the potential economic activities taking place. In this paper we focus on street fairs (e.g., arts festivals) and evaluate their ability to boost economic activities in their vicinity. In particular, we collected data from Foursquare for the three month period between June 2015 and August 2015 from the city of Pittsburgh. During this period several street fairs took place. Using these events as our case study we analyzed the data utilizing propensity score matching and a quasi- experimental technique inspired by the difference-in-differences method. Our results indicate that street fairs provide positive externalities to nearby businesses. We further analyzed the spatial reach of this impact and we find that it can extend up to 0.6 miles from the epicenter of the event.

Curb parking pricing for local residents: An exploration in New York City based on willingness to pay

This paper investigates the feasibility of charging residents for on-street parking in dense urban neighborhoods as a way to clear parking supply and demand. We elicited residents' willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical parking permit program in New York City using a payment card approach, and estimate the key determinants through a Double Hurdle model. A little more than half of respondents (52.5%) are willing to pay for an average $408 per year, even though the revenue is not specified to be return back to the neighborhoods. Pricing becomes more acceptable in neighborhoods where the major parking problem is shortage and crowding caused mainly by local residents instead of parking intrusion by non-residents. The WTP value varies by resident car ownership and home parking types. The results suggest that curb parking pricing for local residents might be both economically and politically feasible in certain dense urban neighborhoods.

Curb parking in Campus and Stimulating Students to use Public Bus within National University of Malaysia (UKM) Campus

Given the great demand for parking and the implications in the environmental of commuting, universities not in the national university of Malaysia (UKM) only but around the world are implementing strategies to reduce dependence on private vehicles and increase the use of alternative modes of transport. That it must be that the system provides transportation comfort, save the time and be a friend of the environment. Were distributed in n= 80 samples for a survey of students to know the behavior of the student for transportation provided on campus. Noted in the questionnaire that focused on graduate students because they represent the largest proportion. In this questionnaire was to know about student behavior and prevent parking on campus and what is reason that prevents students from turning to public transport within the campus. The results shows that 65% use own vehicle and 35 % use public bus which shows the size of problem.

Curb parking in Campus and Stimulating Students to use Public Bus within National University of Malaysia (UKM) Campus

Given the great demand for parking and the implications in the environmental of commuting, universities not in the national university of Malaysia (UKM) only but around the world are implementing strategies to reduce dependence on private vehicles and increase the use of alternative modes of transport. That it must be that the system provides transportation comfort, save the time and be a friend of the environment. Were distributed in n= 80 samples for a survey of students to know the behavior of the student for transportation provided on campus. Noted in the questionnaire that focused on graduate students because they represent the largest proportion. In this questionnaire was to know about student behavior and prevent parking on campus and what is reason that prevents students from turning to public transport within the campus. The results shows that 65% use own vehicle and 35 % use public bus which shows the size of problem.

Quantifying the total cost of infrastructure to enable environmentally preferable decisions: the case of urban roadway design

Efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of transportation infrastructure have generally overlooked many of the efficiencies that can be obtained by considering the relevant engineering and economic aspects as a system. Here, we present a framework for quantifying the burdens of ground transportation in urban settings that incorporates travel time, vehicle fuel and pavement maintenance costs. A Pareto set of bi-directional lane configurations for two-lane roadways yields non-dominated combinations of lane width, bicycle lanes and curb parking. Probabilistic analysis and microsimulation both show dramatic mobility reductions on road segments of insufficient width for heavy vehicles to pass bicycles without encroaching on oncoming traffic. This delay is positively correlated with uphill grades and increasing traffic volumes and inversely proportional to total pavement width. The response is nonlinear with grade and yields mixed uphill/downhill optimal lane configurations. Increasing bicycle mode share is negatively correlated with total costs and emissions for lane configurations allowing motor vehicles to safely pass bicycles, while the opposite is true for configurations that fail to facilitate passing. Spatial impacts on mobility also dictate that curb parking exhibits significant spatial opportunity costs related to the total cost Pareto curve. The proposed framework provides a means to evaluate relatively inexpensive lane reconfiguration options in response to changing modal share and priorities. These results provide quantitative evidence that efforts to reallocate limited pavement space to bicycles, like those being adopted in several US cities, could appreciably reduce costs for all users.

Getting the Prices Right

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Underpriced and overcrowded curb parking creates problems for everyone except a few lucky drivers who find a cheap space; all the other drivers who cruise to find an open space waste time and fuel, congest traffic, and pollute the air. Overpriced and underoccupied parking also creates problems; when curb spaces remain empty, merchants lose potential customers, workers lose jobs, and cities lose tax revenue. To address these problems, San Francisco has established SFpark, a program that adjusts prices to achieve availability of one or two open spaces per block. To measure how prices affected on-street occupancy, we calculated the price elasticity of demand revealed by over 5,000 price and occupancy changes during the program's first year. Price elasticity has an average value of –0.4, but varies greatly by time of day, location, and several other factors. The average meter price fell 1% during the first year, so SFpark adjusted prices without increasing them overall. This study is the first to use measured occupancy to estimate the elasticity of demand for on-street parking. It also offers the first evaluation of pricing that varies by time of day and location to manage curb parking. Takeaway for practice: San Francisco can improve its program by making drivers more aware of the variable prices, reducing the disabled placard abuse, and introducing seasonal price adjustments. Other cities can incorporate performance parking as a form of congestion pricing. Research support: University of California Transportation Center.

Modeling Lane-Keeping Behavior of Bicyclists Using Survival Analysis Approach

Bicyclists may cross the bicycle lane and occupy the adjacent motor lanes for some reason. The mixed traffic consisting of cars and bicycles shows very complicated dynamitic patterns and higher accident risk. To investigate the reason behind such phenomenon, the lifetime analysis method is adopted to examine the observed data for the behavior that bicycles cross the bicycle lane and occupy the adjacent motor lanes. The concepts named valid volume and probability of lane-keeping behavior are introduced to evaluate the influence of various external factors such as lane width and curb parking, and a semiparametric method is used to estimate the model with censored data. Six variables are used to accommodate the effects of traffic conditions. After the model estimation, the effects of the selected variables on the lane-keeping behavior are discussed. The results are expected to give a better understanding of the bicyclist behavior.

The Quantitative Model of Curb Parking Impacts on Traffic Flow Delay

This paper presents a quantitative analysis model of curb parking impacts on traffic flow delay. Whether a road is appropriate setting curb parking is quantitatively analyzed. Based on the variation of traffic delay on a road with curb parking lots, the impacts of curb parking facilities on traffic flow are analyzed. The traffic delay caused by curb parking activities that under both low and high volume conditions are researched. A model respectively using discrete, continuous values of delay as evaluation indicator is built. The validity of the model is tested through application examples.

The Price Doesn’t Matter If You Don’t Have to Pay

Congestion pricing is an effective way to combat congestion, and market prices for curb parking are an appealing way to implement pricing, because paying to park is more politically acceptable than paying to drive. But pricing is effective only if users have to pay, and market-priced parking is vulnerable to nonpayment. To illustrate this problem, we survey parking meters in Los Angeles. We focus on legal nonpayment, and show that almost 40 percent of vehicles at meters are both not paying and not breaking any laws. The majority of nonpayment comes from vehicles displaying disabled credentials. These credentials undermine the effectiveness of priced parking and appear to invite substantial fraud.

Modified Motor Vehicles Travel Speed Models on the Basis of Curb Parking Setting under Mixed Traffic Flow

The ongoing controversy about in what condition should we set the curb parking has few definitive answers because comprehensive research in this area has been lacking. Our goal is to present a set of heuristic urban street speed functions under mixed traffic flow by taking into account impacts of curb parking. Two impacts have been defined to classify and quantify the phenomena of motor vehicles′ speed dynamics in terms of curb parking. The first impact is called Space impact, which is caused by the curb parking types. The other one is the Time impact, which results from the driver maneuvering in or out of parking space. In this paper, based on the empirical data collected from six typical urban streets in Nanjing, China, two models have been proposed to describe these phenomena for one‐way traffic and two‐way traffic, respectively. An intensive experiment has been conducted in order to calibrate and validate these proposed models, by taking into account the complexity of the model parameters. We also provide guidelines in terms of how to cluster and calculate those models′ parameters. Results from these models demonstrated promising performance of modeling motor vehicles′ speed for mixed traffic flow under the influence of curb parking.

Modeling the Parking Pricing of Multiple Parking Facilities under Different Operation Regimes

To explore the parking pricing of multiple parking facilities, this paper proposes a bi-level programming model, in which the interactions between parking operators and travelers are explicitly considered. The upper-level sub-model simulates the price decision-making behaviors of the parking operators whose objectives may vary under different operation regimes, such as monopoly market, oligopoly competition, and social optimum. The lower level represents a network equilibrium model that simulates how travelers choose modes, routes, and parking facilities. The proposed model is solved by a sensitivity based algorithm, and applied to a numerical experiment, in which three types of parking facilities are studied, i.e., the off-road parking lot, the curb parking lot, and the parking-and-ride (PR and the share of P&R mode goes to the highest value, however the total network costs rise also to the highest. While the monopoly market and the social optimum regimes result in solutions of which P&R facilities suffer negative profits and have to be subsidized.

Curb Parking Supply Scale with Conditions of Dynamic Traffic

Starting with the two key factors of road breadth and the distance to intersections, the present paper analyzed the constraints of road conditions on setting curb parking lots and, by analyzing the influencing mechanism of curb parking on traffic capacity, constructed the compensation model of traffic capacity for motor vehicles on the parking road sections. Then, the paper went on to set the values of compensation coefficients for road breadth, vehicles in parking in and driving out, non-motor vehicles, and lateral clearance, so as to calculate, with the precondition of guaranteeing certain service standards, the maximal values of curb parking lots on road sections under the constraints of traffic capacity. In addition, it also constructed the driving speed model according to BRP resistance function and, via the analysis of “Friction” effect and “Blocking” effect of curb parking on traffic flows of motor vehicle lanes, measured the influence of curb parking on driving speed in order to exactly determine of maximal parking value under the condition that the minimal driving speed of motor vehicles can be ensured. Finally, for the purpose of finding the balance between dynamic and static traffic and of maximally utilizing the remaining road resources, the maximal number of curb parking lots shall be the minimal value to satisfy the constraints of road conditions, traffic capacity and driving speed.

Traffic Behavior Analysis of Non-motorized Vehicle under Influence of Curb Parking

To analyze the lane-crossing behavior of non-motorized vehicles under the influence of curb parking, the lifetime data analysis method is adopted to examine the observed data for non-motorized vehicles. The concept named valid volume is introduced to describe the relation between the probability of lane-crossing behavior and non-motorized vehicle volume, evaluate the influence of curb parking, then a nonparametric method and a parametric method are used to estimate the model with censored data. The results indicate the curb parking has a significant influence on the traffic behavior of non-motorized vehicles. It can decrease the valid volume and increase the likelihood of lane-crossing behavior. The results are expected to help evaluate the influence of curb parking on non-motorized vehicles and improve the planning and management of curb parking.

Optimizing Model of Curb Parking Pricing Based on Parking Choice Behavior

Curb parking is an indispensable part of urban public parking system. A reasonable curb parking pricing scheme makes contribution to improve the use efficiency of curb parking and to reduce traffic congestion. This paper analyzes the parking choice behavior from the micro-aspects, and the choice utility function is established to combine with the travel time, search time, waiting time, access time, and parking pricing. Through the utility function, the Probit-based parking choice behavior model is formulated. Based on that, the curb parking pricing model is proposed by considering the constrained conditions. Finally, the incremental assignment algorithm of the model is designed and the model is applied to the parking planning of Tonglin, China. The results show that the proposed model has practicality and reliability in the practical operation.

ASSESSMENT OF DIFFERENT TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS USING MICROSCOPIC SIMULATION: A CASE STUDY

This paper presents the results obtained from microscopic traffic simulation study conducted to evaluate different traffic management scenarios (alternatives) for congested links in the capital city of Sana'a. The main objective of implementing simulation technique is to assist decision makers to select the most suitable solution to manage the problem of traffic congestion in effective and scientific manner and less cost for one of the busiest roads in the capital city of Sana’a. Different real-life implementations of four types of traffic management scenarios were carried out. This includes Do Nothing, convert curb parking lane to effective traffic lane, waving/shifting public traffic vehicles (microbuses) to other routs outside the studied road and redesign the traffic signals. The Do Nothing scenario was considered as control/reference scenario. The improving or worsening due to implementation different scenarios was measured by comparing results from studied scenarios to that of the reference scenario. Results were extracted from the simulation output reports and the selection of the most suitable scenario was based on a set of quantitative evaluation criteria. This includes delay time, travel time, flow, speed and fuel consumption. Based on the criteria used the succeed scenario was recommended for implementation. The scenarios being most effective were converting the curb parking lane to effective traffic lane and shifting public microbuses to other routs. Although there is no significant difference between these two scenarios, the first one was recommended due to its simplicity, lower cost of implementation and convenience to road users.

Cruising for parking

Suppose curb parking is free but all the spaces are occupied, and off-street parking is expensive but immediately available. In this case, you can cruise to find a curb space being vacated by a departing motorist, or pay for off-street parking right away. This paper presents a model of how drivers choose whether to cruise or to pay, and it predicts several results: you are more likely to cruise if curb parking is cheap, off-street parking is expensive, fuel is cheap, you want to park for a long time, you are alone in the car, and you place a low value on saving time. The model also predicts that charging the market price for curb parking—at least equal to the price of adjacent off-street parking—will eliminate cruising. Because the government sets curb parking prices, planners and elected officials strongly influence drivers’ decisions to cruise. The failure to charge market rates for curb parking congests traffic, pollutes the air, wastes fuel, and causes accidents. Between 1927 and 2001, studies of cruising in congested downtowns have found that it took between 3.5 and 14 min to find a curb space, and that between 8 and 74 percent of the traffic was cruising for parking.

The ideal source of local public revenue

Free or underpriced curb parking creates a classic commons problem. Studies have found that between 8% and 74% of cars in congested traffic were cruising in search of curb parking, and that the average time to find a curb space ranged between 3 and 14 min. Cities can eliminate the economic incentive to cruise by charging market-clearing prices for curb parking spaces. Market-priced curb parking can yield between 5% and 8% of the total land rent in a city, and in some neighborhoods can yield more revenue than the property tax.

The ideal source of local public revenue

Free or underpriced curb parking creates a classic commons problem. Studies have found that between 8% and 74% of cars in congested traffic were cruising in search of curb parking, and that the average time to find a curb space ranged between 3 and 14 min. Cities can eliminate the economic incentive to cruise by charging market-clearing prices for curb parking spaces. Market-priced curb parking can yield between 5% and 8% of the total land rent in a city, and in some neighborhoods can yield more revenue than the property tax.

Forensic Engineering Analysis Of The Four-Way-Stop Intersection Illusion

Right-Angle Crashes At Two-Way-Stop-Controlled Intersections Are Sometimes Caused By The Stopped Driver Entering The Conflict Area Under The Mistaken Impression That The Intersection Has Four-Way-Stop Control. The Cause Of The Illusion Is Often A Device Installed By The Engineer In An Attempt To Improve Safety, Such As A Flashing Intersection Control Beacon, Or Is A Normal Operational Feature Such As Curb Parking. Nine Such Cues, And Suggested Countermeasures, Are Explained Herein. It Is The Design Driver, Rather Than The Average One, Who Errs In This Way. This Is A Human-Factors Problem That Engineers And Psychologists Should Tackle Jointly.