1. In accordance with the traffic regulations and practices within
the area, it was considered that counting, at the busiest time
of the day (i.e. between 7:30 and 10:00 am), on the two main
entrances – (L1) Padre António Vieira Street (entry direction
only) and (L2) Calçada Martim de Freitas – and two main exit
gates – (L3) Calçada Martim de Freitas and (L4) Couraça de Lisboa
Street (exit direction only) – would represent the overall
campus traffic flows (see Fig. A1 in Appendix A for a UC campus
plan with the indication of the relevant elements described on
the text).
2. The counting process included only passenger cars and goods
vehicles.1
3. Drivers follow the traffic rules concerning the driving, but it is
admitted that they do not always observe the rules applying
to parking.
4. Parking places available on campus were classified according to
five types:
– TA includes the free parking places (TA1 = 484), as well as
the parking places reserved for occasional non-UC staff and
for people with disabilities (TA2 = 25).
– TB comprises the 574 places reserved for the full complement
of UC staff.
– TC corresponds to the 136 non-regular places.
– TD comprises the 132 on-street paid parking places.
– TZ includes places already occupied (by residents) before the
beginning of the counting process (i.e., before 7:30 am) and
that meanwhile may became vacant.
5. Drivers without access to reserved parking places (TB) will preferably
park in places free of charge (TA). When all free legal
parking places become occupied, drivers are supposed to opt
for non-regular spaces (TC), assuming the risk of being fined.2
Only as a last option will drivers consider the possibility of parking
at on-street paid places (TD).3
6. The occupancy in conditional parking slots (TB) is estimated,
taking into account the campus rate of entry/exit flows of vehicles,
as well as the occupancy verified at all these parks before
7:30 (H0) and by 10:00 am (H16) (i.e., the number of parking
places occupied before and at the end of the flows counting period,
respectively), for each working day.
7. When a parking place becomes occupied, it is assumed that
such space will not be free until the end of the counting
procedures.
The flows matrix and corresponding parking places occupancy
that results from the application of this modelling approach allows
a fairly accurate representation of the parking demand intensity
(as well as of the interrelated level of supply saturation), since it
proposes an estimation, for each time interval considered, of the
parking places potentially yet vacant (or the associated excess of
demand over supply). Furthermore, it should be noticed that, in
accordance with hypothesis 7, those drivers who access the campus
after the saturation of parking places will be considered as
leaving the campus, despite the fact that it is not unequivocal that
drivers leaving the campus at a specific moment do so because that
is their own will or because they did not find a place to park.