Parking Signage Paper

            Here is a large number of parking citations caused by the confusing parking information shown on parking signs in the City of Los Angeles. Drivers find it hard to decipher the messages in short time and have a higher chance to conduct parking violation. Apart from the financial loss on paying tickets, more trips are generated to avoid the violation, which increase the vehicle emission and traffic congestion. To investigate the reasons and possible improvements of parking sign design in City of LA, the study team conducted a survey
to collect information on drivers’ expectation on the design and concluded people’s preferences on some key design elements. The team has found that people prefer texts than symbols, numbers than texts, larger fonts for key information, standard sign than the calendar-format design, and can accept at most 2 boards.

            After analyzing the feedback from the survey, the study team has generated a set of design principles for the city. The team also did research on other methods of delivering parking information, including parking apps and other technologies. Comparison of three representative parking apps Park Me, Best Parking and Parkopedia have clearly showed the top difficulty of building sufficient and comprehensive databases for app users. However, they also provided the efficiency of information de- livery which does not require drivers to show up at the destination physically. The team also studies on the other technological and managerial improvements the city is planning, and concludes the report with future development trends of delivering parking information.