Estimating Peak Demand for Beach Parking Spaces Under Capacity Constraints

Abstract:Increas ing coastal development and recent hurricane activity have heightened interest in beach protection activities. The United States Army Corps of Engineers requires that beach communities,provide public parking to satisfy peak demand in order to qualify for Federal cost share funds for beach sand renourishment projects. Estim ating potential peak demand is complicated by existing parking capacity constraints in most beach communities. A Tobit regression model is developed to estimate the number of parking spaces needed to meet potential, unconstrained parking demand. I nan empirical example, the model is applied to beach communities in southeastern NorthCarolina.