الفهرس 
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Abstract
Car parking is a central element in the urban traffic management system; finding a proper parking space is a big challenge for drivers in congested cities. Lack of parking spaces or the absence of information on available parking spaces leads to an increase in travel time, congestion, pollution, and also affect traffic safety. Therefore, solving this problem has a significant positive impact on both traffic performance and the economy. Being aware of when, where, and how many parking spaces are available is essential for travelers who make decisions about when and where to go. Accordingly, Parking Guidance and Information (PGI) systems are widely implemented around the world. This system provides dynamic information about the available parking spaces to the drivers within controlled areas. In such systems, data is commonly disseminated by Variable Message Signs (VMS) and/or through the internet, cellular phones. These systems significantly increase the probability of locating vacant parking spots, decrease frustration of those drivers unfamiliar with the city center, reduce queues in front of parking garages, decrease total vehicle-miles traveled, decrease average travel time, energy consumption, and air pollution.
Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is considered as one of the largest cities in the Middle East and the world. According to the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), the population of Cairo in 2019 was 9,876,923 inhabitants, who were nearly 10.5% of the total population of Egypt. Also, based on Bulletin of licensed vehicles statistics published by CAPMAS in 2018, about 1,768,389 private vehicles (37.5% of the total number of licensed private vehicles in Egypt) are running in Cairo roads (CAPMAS, 2018). Traffic congestion is a severe problem in Cairo with significant and adverse effects on both the quality of life and the economy. In addition to the time wasted standing still in traffic, congestion results in unnecessary fuel consumption, causes additional wear and tear on vehicles, increases harmful emissions lowering air quality, and makes Cairo an unattractive location for businesses and industry.
Based on a study by the World Bank group in 2014, the economic costs of congestion in Cairo are estimated at 3.6 % of Egypt’s total Gross Domestic Product (World Bank Group, 2014). Also, this study showed that several factors contribute to congestion, one of these factors is the parking supply and behavior (limited parking capacity, limited information on car parks, illegal on-road parking, etc.). As a result, drivers spend time driving along the streets, searching for available parking spaces. This means that a significant number of vehicles are searching for parking spaces, which increases the number of cars on the streets unnecessarily.
In an attempt to mitigate the traffic congestion caused by Poor parking management, the PGI system was implemented in Cairo in June 2015 by the ministry of state for environmental affairs in cooperation with Cairo Governorate. The system provides the available real-time number of parking spaces for ten garages located at Cairo city center. This information is disseminated by using 14 VMS located at main routes leading to the city center. These garages are Tahrir, Opera, Bostan, Omar Makram, Attaba, Hiliton Ramses, Torgoman, Ramses station, Falaki and Abdelmonem Riad. Even though this system has been activated since 2015, the effectiveness of this system and the driver’s perception and evaluation have not been investigated yet.
This research has several questions to be answered, these questions are:-
1. To what extent the current PGI system provides solutions for the ongoing problem of finding a proper car parking space in Cairo City Center?
2. To what extent people are aware of this system?
3. What are the shortcomings of the current system?
4. How can this system be enhanced?
5. What is the advanced alternative that can be used? And the willingness of garages’ users to use it?
6. To what extent the proposed system eases the defects of the current PGI system?
Accordingly, this research has two main objectives:-
1. To evaluate the current PGI system based on drivers’ opinion,
2. To develop and test a new PGI supplement system based on smartphones application.
Three types of data were collected. The first type of data was collected by using a questionnaire survey technique. The questionnaire form included 25 questions. Physical interviews were carried out with a random sample of the users of the studied garages to gather the required data. These interviews were conducted in Falaki garage, Opera garage, and the campus of American University in Cairo. More than 300 interviews were conducted. A total number of 250 completed questionnaire forms were used in the analysis after excluding the non-reliable and non-completed forms. This survey was critical in the evaluation of the current PGI system based on the drivers’ opinion and perception. Also, the survey was used to examine the willingness of the drivers to use a new proposed parking information provision tool based on the advanced technologies (i.e., smartphone applications.).
The second type of data was the time-varying occupancy of the studied garages. This data has been collected manually using the VMSs as there were no recorded data concerning the time-varying occupancy for the studied garages. Eight observers have observed the VMSs over a whole period of 56 days, which is divided into two different periods 28 days each to record the time-varying occupancy for each garage. The purpose of collecting data during two separate seasons was that the school and off-school season must be taken into consideration as each of them has its circumstances. This data was crucial in the calibration and validation of models that describe the relationship between the time of day and the number of available parking spaces in each garage. The developed models were used in the proposed smartphone application to predict the number of available parking spaces at the studied garages during the day time for work days and weekend days. The third type of data was collected after the development and usage of the developed application through an on-line feedback survey. About 200 person who have used the application have reported their feedback responses. The collected feedback data was used to evaluate the developed application and to figure out whether it can be used as a useful tool for parking guidance and information.
As for the current PGI system evaluation, the parking information is disseminated only using VMSs. This could be one of the existing system defects as the system loses its benefits if one of the VMSs is not working. Because of this defect, time-varying occupancy for only 8 out of 10 garages has been successfully collected. It is noteworthy that the VMSs are only located at the entrance of the downtown area, while previous studies stated that for maximum benefit, VMSs should be classified into three classes based on the VMS location from the garage. The first class is located at the entrance of a large parking zone. The second class is located on the route between the entrance of a large parking zone and a small parking zone to display parking availability information of car parks within the small parking zone. The third class is located at the entrance of each car park. Another defect is that parking information about one of the studied garages is displayed by only one VMS, which may not be considered by all drivers.
Also, the questionnaire survey data analysis showed that despite the PGI system has been deployed since 2015, 70% of the participants were aware of this system. Out of these, only 23% were using the system. The main reasons for many drivers not relying on the current system can be summarized as follows:
1. The number of VMSs are not enough.
2. Some VMSs were not working sufficiently, and frequent breakdowns occur.
3. Some of VMSs were not visible enough to the drivers as there may be an obstacle that prevents vision.
4. The location of the VMSs in terms of distance from the garages are not suitable for decision making.
Around 46% of the interviewed drivers stated that when they didn’t find a space in the garage, they usually do not find an alternative parking space quickly, and they waste much time searching for available parking spaces. A comparison between drivers who were using the PGI system and those who were not using it has been conducted in terms of parking search time. The survey data analysis showed that the PGI system proved a significant reduction in parking search time. The average parking search time was 6 minutes for those who were using the system, while the average parking search time for drivers who were not using the PGI system was 18 minutes. Finally, the majority of the participants believed that using a more advanced parking guidance system through smartphone applications will be more useful, and it will help in reducing parking search time.
The survey showed a general intention and willingness from the drivers to use a new or more advanced parking management system. A prototype smartphone application has been developed in this research