The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald C. Shoup

The strategy of the municipality is the allocation of territory for parking, the goal is similar to the goals of passengers. The strategy of the passenger is the choice of parking, the goal is to minimize the cost and time. A mathematical model was built with three types of participants: car users, municipal authorities and parking operators. Car users choose parking based on their value of time. The paid parking owners' task is to determine the optimal price in order to maximize the profit. The city authorities' task is to determine part of the land which should be allocated for paid parking on the understanding that the rest of the land goes to free parking. Lost profits will also occur if the price is high enough, because if the price goes up, fewer car users will be ready to use paid parking services.

Paid parking operator determine the size of the parking fee - if the price is low enough, all parking spaces will be occupied and there will be problems with parking, in addition, there will be lost profits. Therefore, paying for parking is beneficial for people who have a higher their value of time. Obviously, under otherwise equal conditions the car user will choose free parking, but this will lead to an increase in the time to find a parking space. The problem of optimizаtion the distribution of urban territory near a center of gravity (airport, railway station, mall, etc.) between two types of parking lots: paid and free is considered.

The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald C. Shoup