Most building projects include considerations for creating a parking area because people depend on driving as their main mode of transport. At the same time, the developers and organizations or businesses that create and use the property want to minimize the costs associated with the project. By doing so, developers can direct funds into other aspects of a building. Similarly, the organizations and businesses that call for construction can save money for other uses. Read about the economics of investing in an automated parking system to see how it can be a wiser option than traditional parking layouts.
What Are the Development Costs?
Upfront, an automated parking system appears to be more expensive than a regular parking lot or garage. It is true that it needs additional parts. However, the cost per individual space in an automated parking system is much lower. The reason for this is that it stacks cars via moving platforms and can thus pack more vehicles within the same amount of space in a lot or garage.
Given that you have a fixed area you can devote to parking, for a slightly higher overall cost, you can substantially increase the number of available parking spaces with automated parking. Some automated parking systems can multiply the number of parking spots even more than that as well, depending on their arrangement. If your parking needs are high, this value is undoubtedly advantageous, as it would cost much more to develop additional adjacent land from scratch.
Operating Costs
The economics of investing in an automated parking system also come into play after its initial construction. For a parking area, you must expend funds for regular operation and maintenance. Examples of costs you may need to think about are those tied with lighting, ventilation, seasonal pavement repair, and security systems. On a parking lot that is open to the natural elements and passing people, damages can occur more often, and you must use money to ensure people are safe there. A garage may have more cover, but it is still subject to damages from human error, and you must again take pedestrian safety into account.
With an automated parking machine like those that Harding Steel offers, operating costs can be much lower because people don’t actually enter the vehicle storage space. Instead, the system can place cars into spots that the average person can’t access on their own. This reduces the likelihood of driver-related accidents, vandalism, and other crimes. Automated parking systems provide complete protection from the outside—often even more so than garages, which still must have many openings for exhaust to circulate out. As a result, they will also not experience issues brought upon by harsh weather. Furthermore, you don’t need to allocate funds into powering internal lights or repairing floor surfaces. Over time, you can save a significant amount of money due to these advantages. Investing in automated parking garages is the best option for longevity.