Enhanced prediction of parking occupancy through fusion of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system and deep learning models

Abstract

While predicting parking occupancy is crucial for managing urban congestion, existing models often exhibit gaps in accuracy, uncertainty handling, and integration potential. This study introduces an innovative combination of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and deep learning (DL) techniques to address these shortcomings. Specifically, ANFIS is utilized for its proficiency in uncertainty representation via fuzzy set theory, whereas DL models excel in automatic feature learning, non-linear modeling, and identifying long-term dependencies in time-series parking data. By integrating ANFIS with recurrent neural networks (RNN), long short-term memory (LSTM), and gated recurrent units (GRU), we formulated the ANFIS-RNN, ANFIS-LSTM, and ANFIS-GRU fusion models, testing them on real-world parking datasets. Subsequent experiments highlighted the dominance of these fusion models over individual and benchmark counterparts. ANFIS-RNN achieved a 30.61% improvement in MSE, 16.70% in RMSE, 21.21% in MAE, 21.58% in MAPE, and a 1.03% elevation in R2 over the standalone RNN. The ANFIS-LSTM surpassed LSTM by 34.04% in MSE, 18.76% in RMSE, 26.16% in MAE, 27.71% in MAPE, with a 1.04% R2 increment. ANFIS-GRU exceeded GRU metrics by 27.54% in MSE, 14.85% in RMSE, 19.27% in MAE, 20.01% in MAPE, and boosted R2 by 1.03%. These outcomes underline the potential of integrated models in refining prediction precision. By leveraging the combined strengths of ANFIS and DL, this research offers a significant leap in parking occupancy forecasting. Its implications extend to data-centric urban planning and traffic regulation, marking a pivotal step for future endeavors in hybrid predictive modeling incorporating soft computing and deep learning paradigms.