Informal park-and-ride behaviour

Abstract

Sustainable parking management in central urban areas typically involves implementation of restrictive parking measures. Discouraged by parking measures users seek for an alternative option. Some of them self-initiatively found a way not to completely abandon driving: they drive and park outside the central area and reach the final destination by public transport. This travel pattern is known as “informal Park-and-Ride“ (PnR), and should be estimated as relatively positive because the critical “last mile” is travelled by public transport. As PnR demand grows, policy-makers should consider its formalisation and integration into the urban transport policy. This paper aims to identify informal PnR users in Belgrade and to investigate their motives, requests and preferences towards this option. The findings should be of importance when planning and developing formal PnR sites, which can largely increase user willingness to accept restrictive parking measures, i.e. to adopt more sustainable travel behaviour.