The issue of addressing the lack of parking spaces for road freight transport in cities - a case study

1 Introduction

The liberalization of markets has caused an extreme increase in transport performance, which is linked to an increase in static traffic in cities as well [1, 2]. In particular, parking areas for heavy freight vehicles in city areas cause problems connected, for example, with insufficient capacity or inadequate equipment. In the Czech Republic the regional concepts for the location of parking lots for trucks have not been developed - rest areas are built mainly on highways. Drivers are forced into other roads to search for alternative parking spaces and thus jeopardize the safety of the cargo to be transported. Because of the lack of such parking areas, drivers are forced to violate the European Agreement Concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles Engaged in International Road Transport (AETR) or, due to this agreement, to park the truck before the driver’s work shift ends, thereby reducing the efficiency of full driver usage [3].

2 Literature review

Several authors deal with the issue of static traffic in road freight transport area. An interesting study on the capacity of parking spaces is provided in [4]. This paper assesses the parking needs of freight and service related commercial activities and identifies the role of demand management in mitigating these needs. To provide a context for the analyses, the authors selected two small commercial areas of about the same number of commercial establishments-one in Troy, NY, and the other in New York City-and applied freight and service trip generation models to estimate the total freight and service traffic generated at these sites. Then, using different assumptions of the amount of time these vehicles spend at a parking location, the authors estimated the number of parking spaces required by time of day under different assumptions of demand management. The initial analysis revealed the importance of parking duration as it was shown to be proportional to parking needs; the longer the duration the higher the need for parking. The delivery simulation further bolstered this finding by showing that the optimal case occurs (i.e. minimizing parking duration) the closer the parking location is to the establishment.

Another interesting study is presented in [5]. The paper provides an insight into a comparison of the parking practices and problems of freight-vehicle drivers in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Delhi, India. The purpose of this study is to understand how parking problems are related to relevant characteristics of the study zones, e.g., geographical location, transport mode used for last-mile deliveries, and type of industry sectors attracting freight traffic. The study also examines the possible impacts of imbalance between parking demand and supply. The methodology involves the estimation of freight-parking demand using establishment-based surveys and cordon counts; parking practices and problems are captured through freight-vehicle drivers’ semi-structured interviews, and parking space supply is obtained from a parking inventory.

In article [6] the authors focus on the issue of static freight traffic from the point of view of transport safety. Obviously the rest period must be planned according to the standards and regulations, as well as at a safe parking area. Choosing a safe parking lot often reduces the risk of robbery, theft, thereby the threat of the driver and cargo. International studies indicate that 42% of all road cargo thefts take place on unsecured and unmonitored parking lots. The article points to secure parking areas in the world as a major element to prevent the risk of the goods transport.

Findings on safe parking of trucks in Italy are given in reference [7]. This paper focuses on the problem of lack of safe, secure and comfortable HGVs parking areas in Lazio Region, Italy. Within the study a detailed survey was conducted in order to underline the critical aspects and the complexity of the problem. Results underline data concerning haulage companies and truck drivers behaviours, number and main characteristics of several parking areas, as well as quantitative elements concerning occupancy rate and satisfaction level of users.

Other interesting findings in the field of static freight traffic and the issue of parking spaces for road freight vehicles are also cited by sources [8, 9, 10].

The authors of this paper focus on the issue of lack of parking spaces in a particular selected location and point out one of the ways of increasing these capacities. The authors use some exact mathematical methods when choosing a suitable option.

3 Analysis of the current state of parking capacities

The Czech Republic has a theoretical advantage in its geographic location in the centre of Europe. At present, the major priority is the completion of Europe-wide highway networks. Within Europe, freight transport growth is projected to increase by as much as 50% by 2020 [11, 12]. This of course raises concerns about network congestion on European highways. Analyses show that a large number of traffic accidents in freight transport are due to non-compliance with mandatory breaks for drivers on long journeys.

4 Variant solution proposal of parking lots

Nationwide traffic census in 2010 [16] showed that in terms of freight traffic volume vehicles with semitrailers (on average 127 vehicles/ hr.) prevail, the other in the statistics are heavy trucks of over 10 tones without a trailer (average 54 cars/ hr.) and with a trailer (average 27 cars/hr.). These results illustrate the fact that the parking area must have a predominance of parking spaces for semi-trailer or trailer combination of vehicles. We therefore designate these vehicle combinations as determinant vehicles.

By field survey in Jindrichuv Hradec it was found that 19 trucks were parked on a usual working day, 33 trucks were parked at a weekend day and 35 trucks were parked on state holiday. Based on this point, two parking areas are proposed.

5 Variant solution selection using TOPSIS method

Verification of results will be achieved using the TOPSIS method,which is one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods [20, 21, 22, 23, 24]. This method selects the option closest to the ideal variation and farthest from the basal variation (the variant with the worst rating) assuming that all criteria have maximizing character. If not, it is necessary to convert all of the criteria [25, 26, 27, 28].

The g_ij elements are normalized according to the formula [29, 30]:

where:

r_ij – normalized matrix elements,

g_ij – evaluation criteria.

1. Determining matrix with elements w_ij:

   (2)w=vj∗rij

   where:

   w – Elements of the weighted normalized decision matrix,

   v_j – criteria weights.

2. Determination of the ideal and basal variant [31].

3. Determining the distance from the ideal variant d⁺:

   (3)di+=∑d=1m(wij−Hj)2

   where:

   d⁺ – ideal solution,

   H _j – elements of ideal solution.

4. Determining the distance from the basal variant d⁻:

   (4)di−=∑d=1m(wij−Dj)2

   where:

   d⁻ – basal solution,

   D_j – elements of basal solution.

5. Determination of relative closeness to basal variation c_i:

   (5)ci=di−di++di−

   where:

   c_i – relative closeness of alternatives to the basal solution.

6. Variants are sorted by decreasing values c_i.

According to this procedure, parking area designs are evaluated in Table 2.

Each criterion was rated from 1 (worst) to 5 (best). The significance and the evaluation of the individual criteria were determined in an objective manner [32, 33, 34]. The complete calculation is the following.

Step 1: 552+32=0,857;552+12=0,980;112+52=0,196;552+32=0,857;552+42=0,781

Step 2:  152+32=0,514;152+12=0,196;512+52=0,980;352+32=0,514;452+42=0,624

0,857;0,980;0,196;0,857;0,7810,514;0,196;0,980;0,514;0,624

Step 3:

(0,4⋆0,857;0,15⋆0,980;0,05⋆0,196;0,1⋆0,857;0,3⋆0,7810,4⋆0,514;0,15⋆0,196;0,05⋆0,980;0,1⋆0,514;0,3⋆0,624)⇒(0,3428;0,147;0,0001;0,0857;0,23430,2056;0,0294;0,049;0,0514;0,1872)⇒

H = {0, 3428; 0, 147; 0, 049; 0, 0857; 0, 2343};

D = {0, 2056; 0, 0294; 0, 0001; 0, 0514; 0, 1872}

Step 4:

Step 5:

6 Discussion

The main task of the research was to design a complex parking area, which is safe, with catering facilities and social facilities for drivers of trucks with semi-trailers and trailers, and provide conditions for driver regeneration [35, 36, 37]. After analysing all the positive and negative criteria of the proposals and their evaluation using the TOPSIS method, proposal B will be chosen for realizing in the town of Jindrichuv Hradec. The most important factor in the decision was the criterion of the parking system. The value in proposal B was chosen to be significant because parking is simple here and it is not necessary to be organized by a person or a computer. In proposal A, the parking system is not tested in practice. Another important criterion was the safety - the values differing by just one point value due to parking in the middle of the proposed parking lot at proposal A. The last criterion was the presence of charging station for refrigeration units. This is a novelty that is being tested in Germany and is widely used to reduce the need for diesel as the primary source of the aggregate [38, 39, 40]. According to surveys conducted in Germany, these charging stations can save several thousand euros a year for the owners of refrigeration semi-trailers.

7 Conclusion

Parking area proposal B offers drivers comprehensive services such as restaurant, hygiene, secure parking or a supermarket. The parking area is conveniently located on the second most frequented road in Jindrichuv Hradec (significant transport route within CZ), which has already a suitable entrance, which should not create undesirable congestion. In the case of the construction of this complex, it will be necessary to intervene in the form of a decree, where the parking of trucks outside the marked places in the town will be prohibited, thus increasing the demand for parking areas. This restriction information should be placed on telematics devices on every road that heads to the town of Jindrichuv Hradec. If the municipality was considering financing this project, its implementation would be possible with the aid of European subsidies. European subsidies for the 2014-2020 programming period are aimed at linking the Czech Republic regions to strategic transport infrastructure, TEN-T infrastructure development, using intelligent logistics or transport management systems (Galileo system), constructing the transport facilities that are key to infrastructure. The most effective financing of this project would be through a private investor where financial resources are more affordable than public resources. To solve a nationwide problem, the best would be the entry of a large investors such as MaxiAutohöfe in Germany (or 24, SVG, EURO RAST-PARK, VEDA) who would be able to create a network of rest places throughout the Czech Republic.