A Microscopic Model for Assessing Off-Street Parking System

Abstract

Car parking is a significant issue in the central business district of Baghdad, Iraq, which attracts many people from all around the city. The absence of parking spot availability information in this location causes traffic difficulties. The research aims to evaluate off-street parking in the central business district (CBD) to familiarize readers with parking options in metropolitan areas and intelligent parking technologies that can assist drivers in finding their way around a parking lot. This study includes a survey of twelve off-street parking locations. As an example of the technique, a case study was performed to assess parking guidance information systems (PGIS) to minimize the delay. Based on an initial parking survey and a microscopic parking model, PGIS and non-PGIS cruising situations are simulated. Comparing these two sets of circumstances makes it possible to determine the entire delay time. The model requires data inputs, namely the size of parking lots, parking lot capacity, parking duration, parking stall layout, parking route determination, the peak period of parking lots, and vehicle input. Form the parking survey results indicate that demand for parking spaces is more significant than supply in P1and P4 parks. Survey results show that P1 has an average efficiency of 110.38 %, while P4 has an efficiency of 102.65 %. The lack of an electronic system for controlling the entrance of vehicles and poor management for accommodating most vehicles has led to problems at the entrance and in the street adjacent to the entrance. As demonstrated by the model simulation, PGIS can only mitigate the phenomena of cruising for parking to a limited amount (25-41 % in the case of the CBD area analyzed in Baghdad). The study includes unique limits for improving parking operations with more sophisticated techniques for regulating off-street parking demand. PGIS supports parking facilities in the following ways: they minimize vacancies, encourage balanced parking use, improve turnover, and protect the economic advantages of parking facilities.