TY - JOUR
T1 - Getting the prices right
T2 - Drivers' cruising choices in a serious parking game
AU - Geva, Sharon
AU - Fulman, Nir
AU - Ben-Elia, Eran
N1 - Funding Information:
The research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1160/18) “Tessellation of urban parking prices”. In addition, the first author kindly thanks the graduate student excellence scholarship provided by the “The Israeli Smart Transportation Research Center” (ISTRC). Special thanks to Dr. Isabella Akkerman and Dr. Michael Dorman who assisted in solving software and connectivity issues. The authors are greatful for the instructive and helpful comments provided by three anonymous Reviewers.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/11/1
Y1 - 2022/11/1
N2 - Scarcity of on-street parking in city centers is a known factor motivating drivers to drive slowly (“to cruise”) while searching for an available parking place and is associated with negative externalities e.g. congestion, accidents, fuel waste, and air pollution. Finding the correct prices is suggested to bring cruising to a sustainable level. Current research methods based on surveys and simulations fail to provide a complete understanding of drivers’ cruising preferences and their behavioral response to price changes. We used the PARKGAME serious game, which provides a real-world abstraction of the dynamic cruising experience. Eighty-three players participated in an experiment under two pricing scenarios. Pricing was spatially designed as “price rings” decreasing when receding from the desired destination point. We analyzed search time, parking distance, parking location choice, and spatial searching patterns. We show that such a pricing policy may substantially reduce the cruising problem, motivating drivers to park earlier—further away from the destination or in the lot, especially when occupancy levels are extremely high. We further discuss the policy implications of these findings.
AB - Scarcity of on-street parking in city centers is a known factor motivating drivers to drive slowly (“to cruise”) while searching for an available parking place and is associated with negative externalities e.g. congestion, accidents, fuel waste, and air pollution. Finding the correct prices is suggested to bring cruising to a sustainable level. Current research methods based on surveys and simulations fail to provide a complete understanding of drivers’ cruising preferences and their behavioral response to price changes. We used the PARKGAME serious game, which provides a real-world abstraction of the dynamic cruising experience. Eighty-three players participated in an experiment under two pricing scenarios. Pricing was spatially designed as “price rings” decreasing when receding from the desired destination point. We analyzed search time, parking distance, parking location choice, and spatial searching patterns. We show that such a pricing policy may substantially reduce the cruising problem, motivating drivers to park earlier—further away from the destination or in the lot, especially when occupancy levels are extremely high. We further discuss the policy implications of these findings.
KW - Cruising
KW - Experiment
KW - PARKGAME
KW - Parking
KW - Pricing
KW - Serious game
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137702520&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tra.2022.08.018
DO - 10.1016/j.tra.2022.08.018
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85137702520
SN - 0965-8564
VL - 165
SP - 54
EP - 75
JO - Transportation Research, Part A: Policy and Practice
JF - Transportation Research, Part A: Policy and Practice
ER -
