The scenario of reducing congestion and resolving parking issues in Makassar City, Indonesia

This study aims to analyze congestion and parking points to construct a behavioral model of congestion, parking, and traffic performance, as well as develop scenarios for projecting the congestion reduction in Makassar City, Indonesia. Three stages were conducted in the study, namely the use of surveys for collecting data on the parking and congestion levels, and the public’s perceptions in developing a behavioral model towards the relationship between parking and congestion. Furthermore, a resolving scenario and projection model for reducing the level of congestion in 2020 to 2050 were compiled. In the first phase, a survey of 67 roads consisting of 78 segments in Makassar was employed to measure the parking and congestion levels. The variables observed were the number of congestion points, vehicle volume, city road capacity, degree of saturation, speed, travel time, and delay. Furthermore, the second stage surveyed the community's perception of the relationship between congestion and parking by distributing questionnaires to 250 respondents. These respondents were selected by incidental sampling in 8 points representing the subdistricts in Makassar. The last stage involved focused group discussions with city managers to formulate resolving scenarios. Base on the scenarios, the projection of the congestion reduction was estimated. The results indicated that the severe congestion incidents, which reduce the travel services in the city, occurred due to crossroads, T junctions, U-turns, parking, and complex occasions. Also, the behavioral model indicated the assessment level and showed that resolving parking issues tend to have more impact in reducing congestion. Therefore, focus group discussions recommend short, medium, and long-term solutions. In addition, projections over 30 years suggest remarkable improvement when resolving parking issues and traffic management are considered in congestion reduction strategies.