By Tom Okure, PH.D
Date: July 30, 2015
The Necessity of Adequate Parking in Urbanized Centers
Adequate parking spaces are a necessity in any modern city. A modern city requires sufficient parking facilities
to accommodate city residents and visitors to the city to park their cars. Cars
are an indispensable mode of modern transportation, and a modern city must plan
to meet the parking needs vehicle owners. If city workers, residents and
visitors cannot find adequate parking facilities or determine that they have to
pay too much for parking, some people may decide to find other employment elsewhere
or visitors may decide not to return to the city to shop, dine or spend their money
in the city. City residents also need
cost effective parking facilities to park their vehicles near their homes and
workplace or they may decide to relocate away from the city.
Parking space problems in cities are not necessarily a new phenomenon. Having said that, here are some new and existing trends that major urbanized city centers around the world have been using to respond to their parking space problems.
Automated Parking System (APS)
Many cities are responding to the problem of dwindling space
for parking by encouraging the development of “Automated Parking Systems” (APS)
as shown in this video.
APS are also referred to by many other names in the parking industry including robotic parking system, rotary parking system, stacker parking and automatic parking etc. An APS is simply a mechanical parking system which moves cars from an entry point to an existing parking space. Cars are stacked vertically in multiple levels purposely, in order to utilize as little land space as necessary so that many cars as possible can be parked in a little space. APS are totally automatic systems and require little personnel to operate
Automatic parking systems are very space efficient and a
growing trend in many expanding cities with limited land space. You can simply
stack all the cars, and the parking space does not have to be as wide as in a conventional
parking lot, which occupies a lot of land space. The main benefit of an APS is that more cars can
by vertically stacked in a compact space by moving the cars by platforms and
lifts. There are also no need for ramps or pedestrian areas in the parking
facility.
Multistory and Economical Double Deck Lifting Parking Systems.
Many highly congested cities in the USA and Europe have historically
relied on multistory and economical, practical double deck and lifting type
parking systems to resolve their car parking problems. Visitors to New York City can attest to the difficulties associated with finding adequate cost effective parking in a typical work day week.
This can be especially frustrating if you have a major meeting and you have to be on time or a shopping activity in a particular place and you find yourself driving over and over a number of streets and avenues far away from your intended destination just to park your car.
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| Picture Above Shows A Double Deck Lifting Parking Systems |
This can be especially frustrating if you have a major meeting and you have to be on time or a shopping activity in a particular place and you find yourself driving over and over a number of streets and avenues far away from your intended destination just to park your car.
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| Multistory Parking Facility in New York City |
Everywhere you go in the major cities of the world like Tokyo Japan; New York City USA; London UK; Soul Korea; Guangdong China etc. one can easily find multistory and practical double deck lifting type parking systems.
The Growing Trend For Smart Phone Parking Apps
Technological advancements have also increased the use of
smart phones and apps to improve customer service and improve parking solutions
in major cities. Smart phone parking apps
are becoming a must have item for savvy car owners and a growing trend in many urbanized
centers.
These parking apps allow its
users to pay for parking with the use of an (online) application. These mobile
applications are implemented by the parking industry in many ways in the parking
process. A driver with a smart phone and a parking app can access real time
parking information and can be guided or directed through the phone to the
nearest parking facility with real time occupancy and pricing information. Some
of these smart phone apps can also inform (or message) parking lot users on a
real time basis that their time on a parking meter or parking facility is about
to expire and provides the user of the app with an option to extend their parking
time and avoid packing violation fee penalties.
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| Online Smartphone App |
In November 2012, Ellicott City, MD in the USA started using
an online smartphone app which greatly helped busy motorists in the city to find
the best available parking spot. The app
directs travelers in real time to open parking spots just like a GPS provides
directions to the city itself. The app works by providing real time information
on available parking spots in Ellicott City based on data gathered by street level
sensors mounted wherever parking spots are available.
…..Read more
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