Experiments in transport related choices : the influence of risk and uncertainty in determining commuters' behaviour with respect to parking alternatives

The aim of this research is to analyse the trade-off between parking space availability and cost, in terms of time savings (considering time in terms of foregone earnings). This information is pivotal when designing parking policies in terms of fares, investments and regulation. A relevant body of literature has focused on parking behaviour (e.g. travellers' choice of parking type and location) however, little attention has been devoted to understand how risk and uncertainty influence drivers' behaviours in parking decision. This paper presents the preliminary outcomes of a laboratory experiment, which aims to collect disaggregate data on travellers' responses to changes in parking attributes and related information. Different components of the parking activity (e.g., general in-vehicle time, parking search time, egress time) are controlled for, in relation to the characteristics of the respondent. In order to avoid heterogeneity in relation to journey purposes we focus on commuters' mobility. The collected data is used to build simple model of consumer's choice related to parking decision, taking explicitly into consideration both risk and uncertainty. In the follow up work, currently being completed, results of the quasi-experiment's outcome are compared with experimental evidence, in order to identify potential significant differences with existing revealed and stated preference results.