Self vs employer paid parking impact on mode choice – The Melbourne downtown commute in an era of driverless cars

The Driverless Car (DC) has the potential to revolutionize the mode choice behaviour of downtown or CBD (Central Business District) commuters. This group generally experience high parking costs, which can potentially be eliminated due to the self-parking capabilities of DCs to access free-parking zones. However, it is unclear how this will impact mode switch behaviour in the DC era, and particularly, how current parking payment mechanisms (self vs. employer paid) will interact with future mode switch behaviour. This paper addresses these gaps by collecting and analysing data from 528 Melbourne CBD car commuters. Results from panel logistic regression indicate that on aggregate, 54% car commuters would opt to DC commuting. However, this proportion increases to 61% among self-paid parking commuters but drops to 47.6% for those with employer-paid parking, indicating a significant association between current parking payment arrangements and future intentions to use DCs for CBD commutes. Regression results show that travel cost, parking payment arrangement, individuals place of residence, DC demonstration approach and the degree of DC awareness have statistically significant impact on mode switch decision. Results will assist transport practitioners and legislators in understanding the association between parking payment arrangements and mode switch behaviour, along with the factors influencing this mode switch. This insight will also help policy advisors to plan in advance proactive travel demand and parking management planning with DCs in CBDs.