Studies revealed that a relatively large number of drivers travelling within central city areas spend a significant amount of their total trip time looking for an on street parking space. This search for parking spaces intensifies the overall amount of traffic congestion and worsens environmental quality within an urban center.
To alleviate this congestion and improve the environment quality in urban centers, the project is introduced Parking Guidance System (PGS) to sense curb-street parking using a drive-by sensing. To quantify the system’s benefits, the project has examined the effect of the deployment of this system on network mobility, i.e. travel time and delays, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted from vehicles through a design and a development of simulation model replicating one central business district area (Newark, NJ). Different replicated scenarios are developed to explore conditions and operational settings that the highest gains can be achieved from the PGS deployment.
The findings demonstrate that PGS has the potential to improve mobility and reduce vehicular emissions at any level of market saturation whether or not near-real-time traffic data is integrated into the route guidance system. The most significant reductions in vehicular emissions and delays are realized under conditions where the demand for parking is much greater than the availability of parking places; suggesting that as cities become more densely populated, PGS will become more necessary to reduce congestion and improve urban air quality.
However, the emission reductions enabled by PGS usage are not sufficiently large to completely mitigate the increase in emissions caused by increasing parking demand. The study also analyzes the impacts of simultaneous deployment of near-real-time traffic information system (ATIS) and PGS, as demands increase. The findings suggest that the close integration and coordination of ATIS and PGS is beneficial in order to decrease delays and improve mobility.
Source: Rutgers University
Author: Nadereh Moini | David Hill