Receiver willingness to participate in off-hour service programs

Service trips, a frequently overlooked segment of urban traffic, represent a disproportionately large share of the negative impacts associated with commercial activity. The reason is that although service trips are less frequent than freight trips, they often take longer and thus occupy a significant share of commercial parking. Demand management programs seeking to move service trips off-hours can potentially reduce congestion and emissions but they have been understudied. This paper describes research conducted to investigate receivers’ willingness to participate in off-hour programs for planned service activity. The research reported in this paper analyzes results from a survey of 189 business establishments in New York City and the Capital Region in New York State using descriptive analyses of the data, and by estimating a discrete choice model to gain insight into how business characteristics influence willingness to participate in off-hour services. To assess the impacts of a hypothetical off-hour services program, the authors applied the discrete choice model, together with service trip attraction models, to quantify the hours of daytime parking that could be eliminated by the proposed program in certain ZIP Codes in New York City and the Albany area. The research conducted led to the identification of numerous policy implications that will help policymakers understand and maximize the potential benefits of implementing off-hour service programs.