Car Drivers’ Preferences regarding Location and Contents of Parking Guidance Systems

The goal of this study is to provide insights into car drivers’ preferences on the location and contents of parking guidance systems (PGS). Both aspects of PGS are investigated with a stated choice experiment in which seven PGS-related features are examined: the name of the parking facility, the type of parking facility, the tariff at the parking facility, the occupancy rate per parking facility, the distance between parking and destinations, the number of parking facilities, and the routes to parking facilities. “Location” is defined as either the inner ring of the city, the entrances to the city, or nearness to the parking facilities. The study shows that a majority of car drivers are aware of the presence of PGS and that they use the information presented by PGS. Parking facility occupancy rate is the feature most preferred by drivers, followed by the presentation of the name of the parking facility, the parking tariff, and the route to the parking facility. Car drivers do not have a specific preference on the location of PGS. The influence of personal characteristics and experiences with PGS is limited.