An occupancy simulator for a smart parking system: Developmental design and experimental considerations

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a parking occupancy simulator to support a smart parking system. The simulator uses an agent-based approach to model drivers who follow activity plans and who may or may not use the smart parking system. We illustrate how the process of developing our simulator helped in the design and implementation of the smart parking system components. The paper also shows how the simulator was used to study the possible usage of the smart parking system in a university campus, foreseeing (1) support for the smart parking system’s overall suitability, (2) reservation guarantee violation problems, and (3) the value of using total traveled distance as a metric for the smart parking evaluation. The experience presented in this paper may prove valuable to teams planning the development of a smart parking system for similar contexts.