Sustainable Parking Choice Behavior in an Intermediate Andean City: A Stated Preference Analysis of Willingness to Pay, Enforcement Sensitivity, and Policy Implications in Loja, Ecuador

Parking management in mid-sized Latin American cities is often limited by weak enforcement, scarce off-street supply, and widespread irregular parking. This study uses a stated preference experiment to analyze parking choices among 227 drivers in Loja, Ecuador. Six choice tasks evaluated four alternatives—regulated on-street, private off-street, irregular parking, and leaving the vehicle at home—based on cost, walking distance, search time, availability, expected fines, and security. Multinomial logit (MNL) and mixed logit (ML) models were estimated, including income- and gender-based segmentations. Results show that cost (β = −0.332, p < 0.01) and walking distance (β = −0.0026, p < 0.001) are the primary determinants of formal parking choice. The willingness to pay to avoid 100 m of walking is USD 0.77 per 2-h period. Low-income users are 4.8 times more sensitive to cost. Mixed logit results reveal significant heterogeneity in preferences for cost, search time, and enforcement sensitivity. Policy simulations indicate that increasing enforcement (70% probability, USD 250 fine) reduces illegal parking demand by 93%, while lowering regulated tariffs to USD 0.50 raises its share by 4.2 percentage points. These findings support sustainable mobility policies by promoting efficient parking management, reducing illegal parking, and improving equitable access to urban space.