Parking conditions in transport demand management

Purpose: In today's urban mobility landscape, the increasing number of cars trying to park in the city center is one of the most burdensome problems facing urban transport. Knowing about the impact that individual parking space management strategies and methods - including parking solutions and pricing systems - can have on the efficiency of the urban transport system, may be of key importance for the selection of solutions in this area. This knowledge is the main goal of my research. Design/methodology/approach: The observations and research presented in this article took place in Bielsko-Biala. As part of the research, the effectiveness of actions implementing the city's parking policy was analyzed. The scope of these activities included, first of all, parking fees and the organization of the so-called parking zones in the city. In the case of parking fees, the effectiveness of parking fees was analyzed. The research was mainly a case study. It also had elements of quantitative research - a questionnaire. The effectiveness of parking fees was assessed on the basis of official and up-to-date data on parking fees and the analysis of the ability (ATP) and readiness (WTP) to pay parking fees by their users. Findings: This article presents the way in which regulations, including parking fees in the center and suburbs of Bielsko-Biala, influenced the demand for parking space and thus the mobility of the city's inhabitants. Practical implications: The results presented in the article are the basis for making practical decisions regarding the necessary regulations - in the perspective of the increase in demand for transport in downtown areas - related to parking space. This, in turn, may increase the share of public transport in the transport structure. Originality/value: The available results of empirical research on the relationship between the parking strategy and transport congestion and its consequences are very poor, while the research itself is often hampered by the lack of data systematically collected before and after the introduction of new tools or changes to the already used parking space management tools. The publication analyzes the data collected at the time when new or modified functioning elements of the municipal transport policy were implemented in the city. Indirectly, the author of the article presents evidence for the thesis that negative actions, such as raising parking fees, only allow for limited in time and space effects of actions related to reducing the demand for transport.