University parking decisions: a study on students’ payment preferences and willingness to pay in Tehran

There has been significant research on the factors affecting users' willingness to pay for parking spaces. However, in the context of university parking, the choice of payment type (semester-based or hourly) has been less explored. For the case of Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran, the current study aims to understand how students choose between these types and how much they are willing to pay and use. Based on a questionnaire, 183 observations were analyzed using a binary and two ordered Logit models. The results indicate the frequency of university attendance, private car usage, and parking preferences affect the choice between semester or hourly payments. Regarding students' willingness to pay for their preferred payment type, separate ordered Logit models were estimated for hourly and semester-based payment schemes. In the hourly scheme, parking price has a negative effect, followed by education level (with postgraduate students showing lower willingness to pay). Travel time showed a marginal positive influence. In contrast, for the semester-based scheme, current usage of campus parking and having an independent income were positively associated with willingness to pay, while parking price had a significant negative effect. Decision-makers can use these findings to develop more effective parking strategies that meet students' diverse needs and behaviors.