DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTERIZED ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE PARKING MANAGEMENT POLICIES

This paper describes the development and application of a computer model for the analysis of policies for the supply and management of parking facilities. The model, developed to analyze parking problems in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh, is a micromodel that allocates vehicles to parking spaces at the block level within a defined study area. The parking model is based on the origin-constrained entropy-maximizing gravity model. The destinations are the spaces in which drivers park their cars in the study area. Since all spaces need not be used, the destinations are unconstrained. The locations, to which the drivers then walk, represent the origins. As these are fixed and known, the model's origins are constrained. The study area is divided into two-zone systems that overlay each other. Land use zones represent the origins, and parking zones contain the destinations. The attraction of a parking zone is a function of the number and general cost of each type of parking space in that zone. The parking problems in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh arose from the conflicting needs of two universities, five hospitals several cultural institutions, and residential and commercial areas. The alternative policies examined include residential sticker parking, parking pricing and time limit changes, and the location and size of new parking buildings. The results from the model indicate that the parking problems for the area could be overcome by a coordinated program of management changes and construction of parking buildings. Several predictions of the model have been confirmed by subsequent detailed feasibility studies. The model developed should be generally transferable with some recalibration of cost and walking distance trade-off parameters. The current application dealt with a situation of inelastic demand. If the demand were elastic, then the model would have to be used in combination with a travel-demand package.