Integrated carpooling and parking system to improve mobility: Case study at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

Abstract

This paper describes the pilot test of a Parking Allocation and Ride-Sharing (PARS) system at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. PARS is a novel travel demand management strategy that integrates carpooling and parking management to address parking and mobility problems. The main components of the pilot were a mobile application for submitting parking and ride requests; cloud-based algorithms for ride matching, implementing a space reservation model, and verifying passenger occupancy in carpool vehicles; and internet-of-things devices for controlling access to a 20-space parking area. Surveys were conducted before and after the test to explore attitudes toward carpooling and evaluate participants' experiences. The pre-test survey focused on participants’ comfort levels with giving rides or being passengers in a university-coordinated carpooling program. Responses were analyzed using ordered logistic regression and structural equation modeling to examine how demographic characteristics relate to stated comfort with carpooling.

In the pre-test survey, 30–40 % of respondents agreed with statements indicating that they would be comfortable being carpool drivers in a university coordinated carpooling program, but fewer (26–33 %) agreed they would be comfortable being carpool passengers. The model estimation results suggest that there are differences in attitudes toward carpooling depending on the person’s gender, age, travel time, role in the university, and whether they are drivers. The pilot test demonstrated that the PARS technologies are an effective strategy for parking management and carpool coordination. Although female survey respondents were more likely to indicate that they were uncomfortable with carpooling – and particularly with having opposite-gender carpooling partners – they were not underrepresented among PARS users. On average, the system received 15.3 (±5.2) parking requests and 2.4 (±1.4) ride requests per day. The post-test survey analysis found that 82 % of PARS users had a positive experience. Two key lessons from the test were that marketing for new carpooling-based services requires considerable planning and resources and that mistrust of strangers is a major barrier to carpooling programs, even in universities.