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Travellers’ preference for parking at the Vancouver International Airport

University of British Columbia

Market research is becoming an increasingly important part of an airport's operational strategies as airport managers try to increase customer service and reach operational goals. This research applies conjoint analysis to investigate customer preferences for parking facilities and services at a major Canadian airport. This research will define and determine the relative importance of a set of attributes which influence business travelers' parking choice at the Vancouver International Airport. In addition, market segments for parking services will be identified. Sawtooth Software's Adaptive Conjoint Analysis and Ci2 were used in this study. A questionnaire was administered to a 36 employees among three local companies selected for data collection. Employees of these three companies represented potential local business travelers. This study was limited to the investigation of a subset of traveler (i.e. business traveler) preferences for parking at the Vancouver International Airport. More complete analysis would have to replicate the data collection procedures and target different users under different conditions (i.e. time of day, time of year, duration of stay). Results of the conjoint analysis indicated that price and distance to the terminal building account about equally for the majority of business travelers parking preference ratings (approximately two-thirds). The provision of video camera security was also an important determinant of customer preference. The provision of electronic signage providing guidance to available parking spaces did not contribute significantly to customer preference. In addition, the provision of a parkade rather than a surface lot contributed little to customer preference. Market share estimates were calculated for YVR's proposed Parkade, Main and Economy parking lots. Estimates of market shares suggested that a majority of business travelers taking an overnight journey in August preferred to park in the YVR Parkade. Market share estimates were also calculated for various service alternatives in the parkade. Comparing these additional estimates with the base service option revealed the trade-offs that business travelers were likely to make. Results anticipated approximately a 60 percent market share for the proposed parkade service despite charging a higher price ($6 per day higher than the alternative parking lots). Market share estimates predicted that the provision of video camera security and electronic signage in the parkade was significant in enabling a higher price. The predicted market share falls substantially to 28 percent if security and signage are not provided. Results also suggested that more travelers were willing to pay extra for the provision of video camera security than electronic signage in the parkade.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-01-31

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/4056

Business Administration - Transportation and Logistics

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace