Parking Charges: Ingeniously Effective and Publicly Accepted in Riyadh?

The background of this study is relevant to parking facilities at shopping malls in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), where all parking services are mostly free, with very few exceptions. Demand on parking places at shopping malls and recreational areas in Saudi cities are generally very high. This is partly because most of the entertaining, shopping, and recreational areas are indoors and are typically located at shopping malls with huge parking provision. With the vast increase in car ownership and use in the country over the past few decades, a consequent increase in demand on roads and parking facilities has been observed, which has no doubt resulted in further congestion. This study aims to investigate the willingness to pay to save time searching for a parking place at shopping malls in Riyadh city in the KSA. The methodology includes interviewing shoppers in shopping mall car parks and asking about their search time for a parking space and their willingness to pay to save search time, as well as to report on their socio-economic characteristics including age, gender, employment, education, car ownership, and income. The outcome of this study shows that on average, shoppers spend about 9 min searching for a parking place for their shopping and recreational trips. The results also show that, on average, shoppers reported that they go shopping, eating out, etc., about three times per week, and the average willingness to pay to save time searching for parking space is about 10 Saudi Riyal (about 2.7 USD) per visit. The modelling results show that there is a higher willingness to pay from the middle income and car-ownership categories of the population than from the highest income and car ownership groups. This might reflect the fact that the middle-income groups are much more dependent on themselves to drive their cars and search for a parking space every time, while those of higher incomes could possibly rely on their private drivers most of the times to drive them and park their cars. This paper contributes to the literature by providing a first understanding on how demand for parking facilities is affected by various socio-economic factors and the willingness to pay to save search time at these parking locations. The implications of the outcome of this research will be of use for decision makers and city authorities in planning travel demand management policies and programs that aim at reducing demand on private cars and achieving sustainability.