Modeling parking demand : A systems approach to parking policy analysis on campus.

摘要

An economic model of parking behavior (using Vensim PLE software) was designed to consider the relationship between costs and benefits in meeting parking demands of the range of users on an urban university campus. In using Minnesota State University, Mankato campus as the case area, model simulations were run to answer the question of; "how do we price parking permits to minimize parking supply surpluses/shortages on campus and still meet the cost of parking?".;The study results indicated that there is an over-supply of some types of parking spaces and an under-supply of other types when parking demand is determined only by expected permit purchases without considering the peak-use of parking facilities. The over-supply of parking spaces at peak time leads to excess parking costs—in terms of annual operating and maintenance cost—and the under-supply leads to peak time shortages of parking spaces for users. By running these simulations, an "optimum parking price level"—the price that minimizes supply excesses and shortages while ensuring that revenue generated meets at least the annual operating and maintenance costs—was determined for each parking permit category.