Workplace Parking Research Articles

Sustainable electric vehicle charging coordination: Balancing CO2 emission reduction and peak power demand shaving

Although electric vehicles (EVs) eliminate CO2 emissions on the road, the upstream emissions from electricity generation still affect the emissions benefit brought by vehicle electrification. Coordinating EV charging to match the low marginal emission factors (MEFs) of electricity generation could reduce emissions, while aggregating the charging events may create a higher power demand undermining the grid stabilization goal. To address the trade-off between emission reduction and peak power demand shaving, this study developed a bi-objective optimization model for quantifying the relationship between minimizing CO2 emissions and peak power demand. Using one-year EV charging data from a workplace parking lot with 50 charging piles in California, USA, the results show a non-linear relationship between the two objectives throughout the year. Compared to uncoordinated charging, coordinated charging can reduce CO2 emissions by 18% annually while also reducing peak power demand by 33%. However, further reducing emissions by around 1% requires a significant increase in peak power demand by 84%, which is 23% higher than the peak power demand without coordination. These findings provide quantitative insights for policymakers and other stakeholders to balance emissions reduction and grid stabilization goals toward sustainable EV charging coordination.

The theory of change and realistic evaluation applied to the evaluation of a transport intervention: The case of the Nottingham Workplace Parking Levy

This paper focuses on the application of evaluation based on a Theory of Change Approach, including elements of Realistic Evaluation to a transport intervention; the UK’s first Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) introduced in 2012 in the City of Nottingham. A WPL places a charge off-street parking provided by employers. The scheme acts as a transport demand management measure with the revenue hypothecated for funding transport improvements. The WPL and the measures that it funds thus form an integrated package aimed at achieving social, economic and environmental benefits. The approach afforded a robust evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of a WPL package of measures. Based on this case study it is able to conclude that this evaluation approach is an appropriate framework for evaluating public sector interventions in general and transport interventions specifically and recommend as to how the methodology may be refined for future transport evaluations.

Electric Vehicle Charging Schedules in Workplace Parking Lots Based on Evolutionary Optimization Algorithm

The electrification of vehicles is considered to be the means of reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the transport sector, but “range anxiety” makes most people reluctant to adopt electric vehicles (EVs) as their main method of transportation. Workplace charging has been proven to counter range anxiety and workplace charging is becoming quite common. A workplace parking lot can house hundreds of EVs. In this paper, a program has been developed in MATLAB that uses the well-known evolutionary optimization algorithm, the genetic algorithm (GA), to optimize the charging schedule of fifty EVs that aims at achieving three goals: (a) keeping the electricity demand low, (b) reducing the cost of charging and (c) applying load shifting. Three schedules were developed for three scenarios. The results demonstrate that each schedule was successful in achieving its goal, which means that scheduling the charging of a fleet of EVs can be used as a method of demand-side management (DSM) in workplace parking lots and at the same time reduce the energy cost of charging. In the scenarios examined in this paper, cost was reduced by approximately 2%.

Reading between the Regulations: Parking Requirements, Planners’ Perspectives, and Transit

This article reports on local planers’ perspectives on metropolitan parking requirements. Workplace parking requirements, which are often in excess of demand, influence parking pricing and urban form. In turn, these affect transit demand and transit service potentials. These connections have led researchers and policy-makers to call for changes, but the perspectives of planners who create the parking requirements are not well understood. Using southern California cities as a study area, a telephone survey revealed that most parking requirements are driven by concerns about traffic mitigation, spillover parking, and risk avoidance. These factors push parking requirements in the direction of oversupply. The article proposes methods to reduce the risk of changing parking requirements and develops a typology of approaches for change. Transit agencies will benefit if they play a role in reforming local parking requirements.

The workplace parking levy: a review of its social benefits

Reconciling economic development with the provision of safe, affordable, accessible and environmentally sustainable urban transport networks is key to securing the future vitality of cities and the health and wellbeing of urban residents. Although increased automation and electrification may offer opportunities for decarbonising urban transport in the medium to longer term, more immediate and lower-cost policy interventions are also required to reduce reliance on private vehicles and fund sustainable public transport alternatives. One possibility exists as a result of enabling legislation to implement a workplace parking levy (WPL), which imposes a charge on employers providing liable car parking places at the workplace. The legislation stipulates that the net WPL-derived revenue is hypothecated to fund local transport improvements. As of late 2020, only one English city (Nottingham), has introduced a WPL although a growing number of English local authorities are considering introducing one. The aim of this paper is to examine the potential social benefits of a WPL and offer recommendations for future policy and practice.

Impact Analysis and Optimization of EV Charging Loads on the LV Grid: A Case Study of Workplace Parking in Tunisia

With the growth of electric vehicles’ (EVs) deployment as a substitute for internal combustion engine vehicles, the impact of this kind of load on the distribution grid cannot be neglected. An in-depth study needs to be performed on a regional basis to investigate the impacts of electric vehicle (EV) charging on the grid for each country’s grid configuration and specifications, in order to be able to reduce them. In this work, we built a case study of a charging infrastructure of a Tunisian workplace parking lot, by combining different measured data and simulations using OpenDSS and Matlab. The first objective was to analyze the integration impacts on the Tunisian low-voltage (LV) grid including phase unbalance, voltage drop, harmonics, and power losses. We found that 10 metric tons of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) in yearly emissions were caused by power losses, and 50% of these emissions came from harmonic losses, which can be avoided by active and passive filtering. The second objective was to decrease phase unbalance by formulating an optimization problem and solving it by combining a genetic algorithm (GA) and a pattern search (PS) in the Matlab environment. The GA returned interesting results by balancing the phases, and the addition of PS as a hybrid function reduced the convergence speed by 38%. Moreover, the optimization led to a reduction of 83% in the neutral current maximum value, a reduction of 67% in the violation period of the voltage drop, a minimum voltage drop of 0.94 pu. and kept the total current consumption within a fixed limit. The developed model can be adapted to any similar workplace parking facility in Tunisia that is equipped with an EV charging infrastructure.

An Octopus Charger-Based Smart Protocol for Battery Electric Vehicle Charging at a Workplace Parking Structure

The transportation sector produces a large portion of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Meeting ambitious reductions in greenhouse gasses requires large-scale adoption of battery electric vehicles and has led to several policies and laws aimed at incentivizing their sales. While electric vehicles comprise a small percentage of the overall fleets of vehicles, the expected production of electric vehicles is soon expected to be in the millions. This will create challenges in providing an adequate charging infrastructure, as well as the ensuing management of the overall electricity demand at the grid level. In this work, a novel smart-charging protocol for battery electric vehicle charging at workplace parking structures is proposed. The Octopus Charger-based Mixed Integer Linear Programming protocol allows octopus chargers (i.e., charging stations with multiple cables) to independently schedule charging periods for their assigned vehicles. The proposed protocols can manage a parking structure demand load while reducing the number of installed charging stations. Driving patterns from the National Household Travel Survey were used to perform simulations, to verify and quantify the effectiveness of the proposed protocol. The proposed protocol resulted in improved peak load reductions for all simulated smart-charging scenarios when compared with uncontrolled charging. Critically, the assignment algorithm resulted in a number of required chargers close to the theoretical minimum.

Less workplace parking with fully autonomous vehicles?

Purpose Recent studies on commuter parking in an age of fully autonomous vehicles (FAVs) suggest, that the number of parking spaces close to the workplace demanded by commuters will decline because of the capability of FAVs to return home, to seek out (free) parking elsewhere or just cruise. This would be good news because, as of today, parking is one of the largest consumers of urban land and is associated with substantial costs to society. None of the studies, however, is concerned with the special case of employer-provided parking, although workplace parking is a widespread phenomenon and, in many instances, the dominant form of commuter parking. The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether commuter parking will decline with the advent of self-driving cars when parking is provided by the employer. Design/methodology/approach This study looks at commuter parking from the perspective of both the employer and the employee because in the case of employer-provided parking, the firm’s decision to offer a parking space and the incentive of employees to accept that offer are closely interrelated because of the fringe benefit character of workplace parking. This study develops an economic equilibrium model that explicitly maps the employer–employee relationship, considering the treatment of parking provision and parking policy in the income tax code and accounting for adverse effects from commuting, parking and public transit. This study determines the market level of employer-provided parking in the absence and presence of FAVs and identifies the factors that drive the difference. This study then approximates the magnitude of each factor, relying on recent (first) empirical evidence on the impacts of FAVs. Findings This paper’s analysis suggests that as long as distortive (tax) policy favors employer-provided parking, FAVs are no guarantee to end up with less commuter parking. Originality/value This study’s findings imply that in a world of self-driving cars, policy intervention related to work commuting (e.g. fringe benefit taxation or transport pricing) might be even more warranted than today.

A dozen effective interventions to reduce car use in European cities: Lessons learned from a meta-analysis and transition management

Transitioning to fossil-free transport and reducing car use are necessary to meet European and national climate goals. Cities are promising leverage points to facilitate system transitions by promoting local innovation and policy experimentation. Building on transition management, we developed a knowledge base for the implementation of transition experiments to reduce city-level car use. From screening nearly 800 peer-reviewed studies and case studies, including in-depth analysis of 24 documents that met quality criteria and quantitatively estimated car use reduction, we identify 12 intervention types combining different measures and policy instruments that were effective in reducing car use in European cities. The most effective at reducing overall car use were the Congestion Charge, Parking & Traffic Congrol, and Limited Traffic Zone. Most interventions were led by local government, planned and decided in collaboration with different urban stakeholders. We evaluated the potential of the identified intervention types to be implemented in a pilot study of Lund, Sweden, using three criteria from Transition Management of novelty, feasibility, and suitability, as assessed by interviews with local experts. We recommend three transition experiments to reduce local car use in Lund: Parking and Traffic Control, Workplace Parking Charge, and Mobility Services for Commuters. We suggest practitioners follow our method to identify effective and locally suitable interventions to reduce car use, and future research quantify the effectiveness of interventions to reduce car use using the standardised outcome measure of daily passenger kilometres travelled by car.

Assessing the economic benefits of active transport policy pathways: Opportunities from a local perspective

Combined with concerns about climate change, air pollution and human health, the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed the use of and policy interest in active transport (AT) modes, namely cycling and walking. However, we note a high degree of uncertainty and lack of assessments addressing the economic benefits of AT policies; particularly when they are used as a mix of policies at the local level. This study aims to address this knowledge gap. We use the city of Oxford as a case study and apply the WHO Health Economic Assessment Tool and different baselines to assess four policy packages promoting a mode shift to AT for the 2030–2050 period. In total, 312 policy scenarios were produced and analysed. Results show that a policy mix that maximises economic benefits entails bike-sharing, cycle parking, training and education, low traffic neighbourhoods, e-bike grants, a workplace parking levy and increased use of a ‘cycle-to-work’ Scheme. Considering the health impacts from increased physical activity and avoided CO2 emissions, benefits are estimated in the range of: 62–256 prevented premature deaths; 18–50 million tonnes of avoided CO2e emissions; resulting in a total gross benefit of €3.45–11.28 billion. These impacts remain high and robust when key input parameters are tested via a sensitivity analysis. We conclude that investing in AT policy measures represents a multi-faceted low-carbon opportunity that should not be missed by policymakers.

On employer-paid parking and parking (cash-out) policy: A formal synthesis of different perspectives

Employer-paid parking suffers from many weaknesses but is still widespread. This paper seeks to elaborate the line of reasoning accounting for the role of workplace parking and parking policy in the wage negotiation process, the income tax code, regulatory parking standards, and taking into account the adverse effects of parking at the workplace, parking elsewhere or not parking at all. We provide an assessment from two perspectives: firms provide parking spaces, a fringe benefit, if it is profitable to do so (market outcome); a social planner or policymaker endorses workplace parking if it is welfare-enhancing (social optimum). We find that policymakers as well as employers may lack sufficient incentive to reduce parking at the workplace, even in the presence of an employer parking policy program that pursues the goal of making parking opportunity cost visible to employees (parking cash-out). To foster a reduction of employer-paid parking and to exploit the potential welfare gains associated with employee-paid parking, we propose customized local cash-out programs at the firm level rather than uniform fringe benefit taxation enacted by the federal government, provided that cash-out levels account for local particularities (e.g. prevailing traffic conditions, co-existing transport policies), that bargaining power of workers over employers in terms of the incidence of cash-out is limited, and that cash-out as a wage supplement is not subject to income taxation. The (second-best) socially optimal cash-out level need not be identical to the opportunity resource cost of the employer-provided parking space.

Workplace parking policies in an agglomeration: An illustration for Barcelona

This paper studies the role of workplace parking policies and illustrates it for the Barcelona agglomeration. We adapt the Brueckner and Franco (2018) analytical model for Western European cities by adding agglomeration externalities, public transport congestion and underground parking. Workers can choose to locate in the city centre or in the suburbs. Commuting to the city centre requires either commuting by car and parking or public transport. Two policies to address inefficiencies of employer-paid parking are compared: employee-paid parking and a workplace parking levy. It is shown how employee-paid parking generates additional agglomeration economies, while a workplace parking levy may have opposite effects. The numerical illustration for Barcelona indicates that the welfare effects of workplace parking policies in a second-best setting are dominated by agglomeration effects. These are three times larger than the welfare changes in the transport and land use markets.

Tackling Traffic Congestion with Workplace Parking Levies

On the basis of 17 interviews with employers and 272 survey responses from employees, we explore the perceptions of a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) in Cardiff, with the aim of understanding if a WPL would be an acceptable traffic demand management policy to tackle traffic congestion. We find that employers would not be very supportive of a WPL, whilst employees would, provided employers were to absorb the costs. Despite this support, the majority of those who drive to work would not be prepared to change mode. An important theme throughout the study was the perception of public transport and active travel provision in Cardiff being inadequate. Most study participants felt that investment in public transport and active travel is needed before a WPL is introduced. We conclude that, although a WPL would not be overwhelmingly acceptable to employers and employees, it would be more acceptable than congestion charging, and there is a possibility that acceptability could be increased with the help of feedback from a public consultation.

Implementation of the workplace parking levy as a transport policy instrument

Car parking spaces occupy significant areas land within cities and, in many areas, is often provided to motorists free of charge or at low cost. This can encourage car use which leads to traffic congestion and environmental degradation. In response, local authorities have increasingly used parking policies to address these issues. However, the effectiveness of these interventions have been limited by a lack of control over private non-residential parking spaces, including those provided by workplaces. In 2000 the UK Government enacted legislation which enabled local authorities in England to charge employers for the parking they provided for staff via a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL). Whilst this was expected to act as a catalyst for the introduction of other similar schemes throughout the UK, only one authority has introduced a WPL to date.This paper draws on the results of a national survey of local politicians and transport officers to ascertain the views of policy makers in the UK regarding transport-related issues, and the effectiveness and acceptability of various measures to reduce congestion, specifically the WPL. It explores the reasons why local authorities may consider introducing a WPL, examines issues with respect to the principle of the scheme, and discusses pre- and post-implementation concerns. The final section considers the likelihood of future schemes being introduced. It concludes that whilst there are a number of issues associated with WPL implementation, not least its perceived effectiveness and acceptability, further schemes can be expected in the UK in future.

The impact of the Nottingham Workplace Parking Levy on travel to work mode share

A Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) scheme raises a levy on private non-domestic off-street parking provided by employers. In April 2012 Nottingham became the first UK City to implement such a scheme with the revenue generated hypothecated for funding two additional tram lines into the city, the refurbishment of the main railway station and enhancements to a number of bus services.Evaluations of similar Parking Space Levies schemes in Australia show that their introduction, along with any transport improvements they part fund, have been followed by mode switch to non-car based modes, a pre-requisite for congestion constraint. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact the introduction of the Nottingham Workplace Parking Levy and its associated transport improvements has had on transport mode choice for commuters. This research however, does not directly demonstrate cause and effect leaving open the possibility that the observed mode shift could be caused by exogenous factors. The paper is based on data collected from a survey of 2500 commuters in Nottingham, relating to their mode choice.The results indicate that 8.6% of commuters currently travelling by sustainable modes switched from the car between 2010 and 2016 at least in part due to the implementation of the WPL and/or the associated transport improvements. In the region of 50 per cent of those individuals gave the WPL as a stand-alone scheme as an important factor in their decision to shift away from the car via an increase in the cost of parking at work or because their employer had removed workplace parking spaces. However, this research has also revealed evidence of commuters switching to the car away from other modes demonstrating a significant suppressed demand for travel by car which in part offsets some of the beneficial impacts of the WPL package.

Nottingham’s urban sustainability fix as creative environmental commercialization

ABSTRACT Given that Nottingham (UK) has some of the most deprived areas and the deepest budget cuts in England yet holds the title of the UK’s most energy self-sufficient city, this paper explores the question: how has the Nottingham City Council localized the urban sustainability fix to reach environmental goals? Applying the “urban sustainability fix” concept, we find that during austerity and devolution, Nottingham’s response has been to develop creative funding schemes and commercialize environmental assets. This experimentation has resulted in two first-of-their-kind initiatives in the UK: a Workplace Parking Levy and a council-owned non-profit energy company. We demonstrate two risks of the urban sustainability fix in this case: that environmental initiatives are narrow and based on economic growth priorities, and that social sustainability is deprioritized. Further, we show how the “win-win” logic of ecological modernization is reflected in Nottingham’s pro-environmental individual behavior change approach.

Workplace Parking Provision and Built Environments: Improving Context-Specific Parking Standards Towards Sustainable Transport

Both academics and practitioners concur that parking restraints should be actively introduced in urban centers and job-intensive areas, to prevent overdependence on automobiles. Many Chinese metropolises have reduced the level of parking minimums for non-residential premises in central and transit-rich areas. However, there is a lack of research examining the effectiveness of these policies. Taking Shenzhen as a case study, this paper compares the parking supply with the parking minimums at each policy period, and analyzes the spatial characteristics of parking provision for office use. The descriptive analysis found that the effects of minimum parking requirements (MPRs) on parking provision vary by floor area ratio (FAR), operation period, and transit accessibility. By conducting a geographical weighted regression (GWR) model, this paper further examines the spatially varying effects of the built environment on parking provision. The modeling results conclude that the significance and strength of the effects of built environments on parking provision vary across space. (1) The total parking quantity increases with the growth of the FAR, and this increasing effect is larger in suburban areas than in the city proper. (2) Lot size has a positive relationship with parking provision, and the effects are stronger in areas with higher parking demand. (3) Transit accessibility has inconsistent associations with parking provision at different locations, in terms of the direction and strength of the influence. These results provide relevant insights into the development of context-specific parking policies in the high-density contexts of China’s large cities.

Changes in workplace car parking and commute mode: a natural experimental study

BackgroundThe use of private motor vehicles places a considerable burden on public health. Changes in workplace car parking policies may be effective in shifting behaviour. We use a natural experimental...

Pricing workplace parking via cash-out: Effects on modal choice and implications for transport policy

Employers often provide employees with either subsidized or free parking at work. This distorts relative prices of alternative commuting modes and produces inefficiencies in the transport market. To mitigate this price distortion, parking cash-out has been suggested as an effective and efficient policy to reduce single occupancy car commuting trips. By rewarding the abandonment of car parking use rather than penalizing continued parking, parking cash-out makes commuters sensitive to the opportunity cost of workplace parking while, at the same time, circumventing the opposition usually associated with the imposition of transport user fees. However, practical experiences are rare and only few studies investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of this policy option. This paper empirically tests the effects of parking cash-out on modal choice by performing a two-stage mode choice experiment among commuters in Germany. The first stage collects revealed commuting behavior data. The second stage proposes cash-out scenarios and observes stated mode choice behavior. The joint treatment of regular travel costs and cash outs allows comparing the traditional car travel demand cost elasticity and the parking cash-out elasticity. Results indicate that regardless of model specifications, parking cash-out has a negative and significant effect on the private car choice probability. This bears important implications for future transport policies.

Dynamic Charging Scheduling for EV Parking Lots With Photovoltaic Power System

This paper studies the optimal charging scheduling for electric vehicles (EVs) in a workplace parking lot, powered by both the photovoltaic power system and the power grid. Due to the uncertainty and fluctuation of solar energy and the time-varying EV charging requirements, it is challenging to guarantee the economic operation of the parking lot charging station. To address this issue, we formulate the EV charging scheduling in the parking lot as a benefit maximization problem. First, by analyzing the relationship among the EV charging requirements, the charging load, and the harvested solar energy, we derive several necessary conditions for obtaining an optimal decision, such that the primal optimization problem can be simplified. Then, we design a dynamic charging scheduling scheme (DCSS) to manage the EV charging processes, in which the model predictive control method is employed to deal with the real-time information of EV charging requirements and the solar energy. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the designed DCSS.