Social Experiment of Cooperative Dynamic Park-and-Ride in Japan

This thesis reports the findings of a social experiment on the first use of a Co-operative Dynamic Park and Ride (CDP&R) system in Japan and examines the influence of providing information for Park and Ride (P&R). CDP&R is defined as a system by which various train stations work in co-operation to install P&R facilities at neighboring stations that often have problems with congestion, and to redirect traffic to them when other stations are filled. In addition, the system provides drivers with real-time information about train arrival times and how full P&R car parks are. The Tokyo Park and Ride Investigative Committee played a central role in this experiment, and in cooperation with several administrative and related agencies, managed to carry out a 50-day experiment in Saitama prefecture. This experiment clarified both the feasibility of Co-operative DP&R systems, and showed the efficacy and challenges of such systems as well. In particular, the utilization of dynamic information provided to drivers was shown to be at over 90%, affirming the effectiveness of this type of system. In addition, cases where the driver's utilization of the system was different were also recognized, suggesting the need for equipment capable of providing various kinds of information.