DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PARKING ALLOCATION MODEL

THIS PAPER DEVELOPS THE UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS OF THE PARKING ALLOCATION MODEL AND DESCRIBES THE RESULTS OF ITS CALIBRATION AND APPLICATION IN A CASE STUDY. THIS VERSION OF THE MODEL INCORPORATES THREE OF THE BASIC VARIABLES INFLUENCING PARKING CHOICE: COST, WALKING DISTANCE, AND CAPACITY CONSTRAINT. THE MODEL IS EMBEDDED IN A LINEAR PROGRAMMING CONTEXT THAT USES A DISUTILITY CONCEPT TO COMBINE THE EFFECTS OF THE TRADE-OFFS AMONG COST, DISTANCE, AND OTHER VARIABLES. PARKERS ARRIVING DURING A GIVEN TIME PERIOD ARE ALLOCATED SUCH THAT THEIR JOINT DISUTILITY IS MINIMIZED SUBJECT TO CAPACITY AND DEMAND CONSTRAINTS. IN GENERAL, THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PARKING ALLOCATION MODEL IN ITS FIRST OPERATIONAL APPLICATION IS ENCOURAGING. IT DOES REPLICATE THE FISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF PARKERS AMONG FACILITIES AND THE FACILITY TOTALS. INITIAL TESTING SUGGESTS THAT THE MODEL CAPTURES THE DYNAMICS OF THE PARKING PROJECT. BASED ON THESE RESULTS, FURTHER CAREFUL PILOT APPLICATIONS ARE WARRANTED. /AUTHOR/