Optimization Model for Parking in the Campus Environment

Parking has long been recognized as a major land use problem in campus planning. Anyone who drives an automobile appreciates the difficulties of finding a parking space in areas of intense academic, administrative, student residential, and recreational activities. This shortage of parking spaces near activity centers has worsened as automobile ownership and registration on campus have increased. The problem is more pronounced and the solution more critical on large urban campuses located in or at the periphery of the central business district. An approach to solving the chronic and prevalent parking problem in the campus environment is addressed. An institution-based and evaluative model is introduced as a tool to determine how best to use existing land in the competitive and oftentimes policy-driven university campus environment. Practical solutions that will assist in the proper planning and design of campus parking spaces and facilities are also developed. The optimization model design takes into account the major operational and site characteristics, as well as parameters that traffic engineers and planners consider conducive to optimal parking. The model will help traffic engineers, campus planners, and university administrators maximize land on the university campus. It will also answer the question of what principles should be adopted in the proper planning of facilities for the vehicle at rest within the context of a diminishing campus environment in general and inadequate funding for facilities renewal and maintenance in particular.