A methodology to evaluate the prospects for the introduction of a Park&Buy service

Abstract

The paper analyses the potential for introducing a Park&Buy service in the city of Pesaro (Italy) along the lines of the pilot project introduced in Siena, Italy, in 2004. It attempts to empirically evaluate the preferences of the parties involved and derives some suggestions on the potential compromise solution via a specifically designed stated preference experiment, drawing from the literature on interactive agency discrete choice modelling. Although various theoretical and methodological issues are still open for discussion, the methodology proves useful in giving insights not only on the parties’ preference structure - as normally achieved by discrete choice models - but also on shopkeepers perception of customers’ preferences, on the room for bargaining, on each party’s influence on choice attributes and on the determinants of the probability of achieving a comprise solution.