Changing patterns of parking search

Charles, Chris and Waterson, Ben (2014) Changing patterns of parking search. 46th Annual Conference of the Universities’ Transport Study Group, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. 06 - 08 Jan 2014.

Abstract

It has long been understood in car parking behavioural research that sociological, psychological and practical factors determine where a motorist parks and when they decide to do so. Empirical studies from the 1980s suggested that motorists then adopted a series of strategies when seeking the most suitable space closest to their destination and psychologists have suggested that this was predominantly actioned from the unconscious (i.e. habit). Over the last thirty years however society has seen a revolution in communications technology, information availability and general travel behaviour and therefore these views on motorist behaviour when searching for a parking space may no longer be valid.

To assess this, a survey of motorists was undertaken in 2013 in Brighton and Hove to determine whether the patterns identified in the 1980’s data are still in use today and how strategies (if any) of motorists vary according to their socio-demographic characteristics. Key findings include that while motorists still usually head for the same car park initially, there is now often a much clearer back-up strategy if unsuccessful; this may involve cruising (where vehicles seem to be driving around with little purpose), but this is not as random as identified in previous research. Motorists also revealed strong optimism tendencies and often cynical views about real-time parking information.

Eight distinct psychographic groups were extracted through cluster analysis, with each group representing a unique combination of preferences, worldviews and attitudes, indicating that different groups may need to be targeted in different ways to optimise the chance of influencing parking behaviour. It is clear from the data that the same parking behaviour can take place for different reasons and that the same attitudes can lead to different behaviours. The implications of this are that local authorities may need to rethink their strategies to best influence motorist parking behaviour.

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Contributors

Author: Ben Waterson

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