Off-Street Parking for TNC Vehicles to Reduce Cruising Traffic

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel TNC platform model integrating off-street parking to reduce cruising traffic, using queuing and market equilibrium models to optimize pricing and improve stakeholder benefits.

Contribution

It proposes a new integrated platform model combining ride-hailing and parking management, with analytical models for matching and pricing strategies.

Findings

Reduces cruising traffic significantly.

Increases surplus for passengers, drivers, and garage operators.

Enhances platform profit and traffic congestion reduction.

Abstract

This paper considers off-street parking for the cruising vehicles of transportation network companies (TNCs) to reduce the traffic congestion. We propose a novel business that integrates the shared parking service into the TNC platform. In the proposed model, the platform (a) provides interfaces that connect passengers, drivers and garage operators (commercial or private garages); (b) determines the ride fare, driver payment, and parking rates; (c) matches passengers to TNC vehicles for ride-hailing services; and (d) matches vacant TNC vehicles to unoccupied parking garages to reduce the cruising cost. A queuing-theoretic model is proposed to capture the matching process of passengers, drivers, and parking garages. A market-equilibrium model is developed to capture the incentives of the passengers, drivers, and garage operators. An optimization-based model is formulated to capture the optimal pricing of the TNC platform. Through a realistic case study, we show that the proposed business model will offer a Pareto improvement that benefits all stakeholders, which leads to higher passenger surplus, higher drivers surplus, higher garage operator surplus, higher platform profit, and reduced traffic congestion.