IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2020 - 74

Another aim of ParkUs was to test the ability of the
app to influence drivers not to use their vehicles unnecessarily; since there's little benefit to drive a short distance only to spend an equal amount of time searching
for a parking space at the destination end. We posited
that the latter might be achieved if users note that there
is no parking near their destination and consequently
decide to walk or use public transport instead. Using
ParkUs to achieve this outcome might be considered a
voluntary travel behavior change (VTBC) program, an
approach widely used by authorities looking to encourage more sustainable mobility behavior. Policymakers
have also shown interest in how collaborative apps built
on knowledge sharing - as in ParkUs, might work in this
context, although it is acknowledged that a critical mass
of users is essential for these to work well [16]. More
widely with respect to driving behaviors, apps have been
trialed that look at nudging drivers with behavioral feedback [17], [18], but have encountered problems with persuading people to use the apps every day, and note that
incentives only work while they are active. In response it
is suggested that the app functionality is built into vehicle systems [17], and that the benefits of the behavior
change should be sufficient on their own [18]. How to
achieve the latter is a challenge beyond this trial, but an
important factor to consider in future trials or deployment. More broadly, there is little evidence of long-term
positive effects in travel mode change from nudging techniques, nor of nudging being effective against more
habitual behaviors - such as commuting. Incentives are
however seen as effective in encouraging travel behavior
change [19], and this may prove to be the necessary
route to reach sufficient user numbers to make the
ParkUs app self-sustaining in respect to parking data.
Participants in this trial were reticent to consider changing from their car, although some conceded they might
walk if the distance was short, for example to a convenience store. Offering information on alternatives through
the app when there is no parking may be one way to
encourage this change. This could be achieved through
integration with a source that provides multi-modal transportation information. As an example, the Travelwest
journey planner (https://journeyplanner.travelwest
.info/) in Bristol, U.K. and the Transport for London (TFL)
(https://tfl.gov.uk/) applications provide a way for users
to explore different transportation options for a journey.
If the ParkUs app were to be integrated with such applications, the user could then begin by entering their destination details in this application. This would then show
parking availability at the destination as well as other
modes of transport available including the park and ride
option (one that entails parking the car in a dedicated
parking lot at the periphery of the city from where buses
ferry people to destinations in the inner city areas). The

user could then make a more informed choice, and this
could perhaps act as a nudge to opt for the public transportation. Exploring such interventions could make an
interesting study. This is however outside of the scope of
this article.
This study was conducted in one location, with a
broadly heterogeneous sample. Other drivers might
exhibit different behaviors as a consequence of their
socio-economic characteristics, or existing travel habits,
attitudinal factors, etc. Thus, there may be a diversity of
behavioral responses, and it will be important to consider this when promoting ParkUs as a VTBC tool [20]. It will
also be important to consider factors such as the cost of
parking. In simulator-based research in the U.S., it was
found that information provision (availability displayed
on an app as in ParkUs) decreased circulation, or cruising time significantly, but also that drivers would take
into account the cost of parking in any particular location
[22]. Parking was free at the point of use in this trial.

Promise of a Crowdsourced Smart
Parking Solution
In this article, we presented a smart parking solution
(ParkUs) developed and deployed using smartphones with
a built-in functionality of providing parking availability
information at the user's chosen destination. It is a crowdsourced approach that relies on mobile sensing and automatically labeling parts of a user journey with cruising/
non-cruising events. In order to evaluate the solution, we
conducted a semi-controlled trial with participants sharing
parking spaces at a large university campus. In this, we
successfully showed that parking search times are
reduced when the app showed some information about
parking availability at the beginning of their journeys. We
also performed qualitative analysis of parking behaviors
through the use of participant surveys focusing on both
usability and performance of ParkUs. Findings from this
study have demonstrated the promise of a crowdsourcing
based smart parking solution. There is no doubt that cutting the park search time by even a few seconds will yield
air quality improvements as well as big reductions in CO2
emissions (cumulative savings). This makes a case for
using ParkUs. In summary, when a large number of people
adopt ParkUs they will help to reduce not only the impact
of vehicles on the environment but also perhaps, do their
bit in helping towards accomplishing governmental/regulatory targets for emissions reduction.
It is also evident from this study, that the key factor to
be considered in deploying ParkUs more widely is the
critical mass required to populate parking availability. It
will be important to explore a range of options (in-built to
vehicle systems, integrated with journey planners, etc.)
in future trials and research to better understand the
optimum use of the functionality developed here.

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

∕

SEPTEMBER 2020

https://journeyplanner.travelwest.info/ https://journeyplanner.travelwest.info/ https://tfl.gov.uk/

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2020

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