Shared parking space allocation method based on improved deferred-acceptance algorithm

Shared parking can fully utilize idle parking resources and alleviate parking conflicts. However, existing operational strategies suffer from low utilization of parking resources and neglect of parker preferences. This paper focuses on how to solve the problem of matching many-to-one in the shared parking process considering the benefits of parkers and parking lots. Given this, a stable matching mechanism is proposed based on the improved deferred-acceptance algorithm. Meanwhile, we develop a parking space rental and allocation model for multiple parking lots. A series of factors were considered in the model, such as the profits of the parking lot, the potential loss due to refusal of parking requests and rented spaces, and the walking distance to the destination of parkers. Parking requests are assigned to specific parking lots considering the preferences of the parkers, and then the allocation of shared parking spaces is achieved through the proposed matching mechanism. In numerical examples, we compare the proposed allocation method with the other two allocation methods. The results indicate that compared with the other two allocation methods, the proposed matching mechanism could achieve optimal allocation of parking spaces and a stable match between shared parking and parkers, which verifies the superiority of our method.