A Simple Model of Cruising for Garage Parking

Parking guidance systems have to be calibrated and evaluated before their application in the field. One step to accomplish this is to evaluate them in a simulated environment. This paper presents a simple model of cruising for parking in a parking garage with focus on individual drivers’ behavior. While the described model itself is too basic to completely depict a driver’s decision making process, it is a step towards a more comprehensive representation. In the process of developing the model it became clear which pieces are still missing from the puzzle, and what data has to be collected to successfully represent a parking garage’s operational day. After a short introduction this paper shares some background on garage parking and related work. A simple garage parking model is presented, followed by some thoughts on necessary steps to expand and refine the model. The paper concludes with a summary of the lessons learned and an outlook on further research.