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Parking behaviour: The curious lack of cruising for parking in San Francisco

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  • Millard-Ball, Adam
  • Hampshire, Robert C.
  • Weinberger, Rachel

Abstract

Cruising for parking has long been perceived as a major source of congestion and emissions in urban areas, but recent empirical work suggests that parking may not be as onerous as folklore suggests, and that the amount of vehicle travel attributable to cruising is minimal. In this paper, we reconcile these perspectives through a dynamic programming model of parking search, and empirical insights from a large-scale GPS dataset in San Francisco and the California Household Travel Survey. We first draw a conceptual distinction between parking search, the time between the driver’s decision to park and when a parking space is taken; and cruising, defined as excess vehicle travel due to parking search. In places with little or no through traffic, up to half of traffic can be searching for parking, but cruising can be zero. We then operationalize this distinction through a dynamic programming model. The model predicts that when parking is perceived to be scarce, drivers are more willing to take a convenient available space, even if it is some distance from their destination. Counter-intuitively, scarce parking can even suppress vehicle travel as perceived parking scarcity leads drivers to stop short of their destinations and accept a longer walk. Empirical data from California indicate that neighborhood density (a proxy for parking availability) has little impact on cruising for parking, but increases walk distances from parking locations to final destinations. We conclude that cruising for parking is self-regulating, and that in certain circumstances parking scarcity can even reduce vehicle travel.

Suggested Citation

  • Millard-Ball, Adam & Hampshire, Robert C. & Weinberger, Rachel, 2020. "Parking behaviour: The curious lack of cruising for parking in San Francisco," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:91:y:2020:i:c:s0264837718313620
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.03.031
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Arnott, Richard & Williams, Parker, 2017. "Cruising for parking around a circle," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 357-375.
    2. Alemi, Farzad & Rodier, Caroline & Drake, Christiana, 2018. "Cruising and on-street parking pricing: A difference-in-difference analysis of measured parking search time and distance in San Francisco," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 187-198.
    3. repec:ucp:bkecon:9781884829987 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Marsden, Greg, 2006. "The evidence base for parking policies--a review," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 447-457, November.
    5. Eren Inci & Jos van Ommeren & Martijn Kobus, 2017. "The external cruising costs of parking," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(6), pages 1301-1323.
    6. Shoup, Donald C., 2006. "Cruising for Parking," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt55s7079f, University of California Transportation Center.
    7. Gallo, Mariano & D'Acierno, Luca & Montella, Bruno, 2011. "A multilayer model to simulate cruising for parking in urban areas," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 735-744, September.
    8. Shoup, Donald C., 2006. "Cruising for parking," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 479-486, November.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Tscharaktschiew, Stefan & Reimann, Felix, 2021. "On employer-paid parking and parking (cash-out) policy: A formal synthesis of different perspectives," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 499-516.
    2. Ogulenko, Aleksey & Benenson, Itzhak & Fulman, Nir, 2022. "The nature of the on-street parking search," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 48-68.
    3. Manville, Michael & Pinski, Miriam, 2021. "The causes and consequences of curb parking management," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 295-307.
    4. Zipeng Zhang & Ning Zhang, 2021. "Early Bird Scheme for Parking Management: How Does Parking Play a Role in the Morning Commute Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, July.
    5. Scheiner, Joachim & Faust, Nico & Helmer, Johannes & Straub, Michael & Holz-Rau, Christian, 2020. "What's that garage for? Private parking and on-street parking in a high-density urban residential neighbourhood," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    6. Saki, Siavash & Hagen, Tobias, 2024. "Cruising for parking again: Measuring the ground truth and using survival analysis to reveal the determinants of the duration," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    7. Geva, Sharon & Fulman, Nir & Ben-Elia, Eran, 2022. "Getting the prices right: Drivers' cruising choices in a serious parking game," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 54-75.
    8. Shoup, Donald, 2021. "Pricing curb parking," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 399-412.

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