Managing campus parking demand through course scheduling – an approach to campus sustainability

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to use the optimization modeling method to explore whether there is an ideal arrangement of course enrollments that can yield optimal parking demand and supply on college campuses. Design/methodology/approach: Using the University of Louisville as a case study, this study deploys a three-step analytical process to examine the correlation between parking demand and course enrollment, estimate parking demand based on course enrollment with regression analyses and embed this estimated relationship in an optimization model that minimizes on-campus parking demand and supply. Findings: The correlation analyses suggest significant correlations between course enrollments and on-campus parking. The correlation patterns are different between students and university employees. The optimization results indicate that coupling parking supply and course scheduling decisions can reduce parking supply by 30%. Originality/value: Voluminous studies on sustainable campus transportation have focused on transportation demand management strategies. The relationship between course-scheduling and parking demand was not explicitly accounted for in most studies. This study's results reveal that parking demand on campus depends on the number of courses offered across time. Thus, factoring and optimizing course schedules in campus parking decisions remains a viable and essential option to reduce on-campus parking demand.