Assessing Temporal-based Parking Pricing Schemes

As more vehicles roam the urban roads, the necessity of availing a parking space to park the vehicle during down time becomes imminent. However, due to the heterogeneity of these parking locations, different commercial establishments collect varying car park fees from their customers. As parkers, they search for available lots that provide value for their money. In this study, we evaluate two existing temporal-based parking pricing schemes, namely, Fixed and Linear Rate Pricing, based on their effective value. We introduce a new pricing scheme, Min-Max Rate Pricing, to provide balance between the low and high effective values of the Fixed and Linear Rate, respectively. Our investigation shows that for shorter parking duration, the rates of all schemes are approximately equal, while for longer duration, Linear Rate is the most expensive of all schemes and the proposed Min-Max Pricing rate provides an intermediate price value for parkers.