An Integrated Model of Parking Pricing and Cruising

This paper presents a theoretical economic model that integrates parking pricing and cruising for parking in a steady state. It was assumed that drivers entering a downtown area decided where to park on the basis of the expected cost for either searching for a vacant space or proceeding to off-street parking. Two major results were obtained from the numerical analysis of the model: (1) cruising induces more cost with an increasing number of drivers that choose on-street parking; and (2) raising on-street parking fees to an optimal level will reduce the number of searchers and discourage individuals from parking their cars on the road.