In parking areas across the country, a good deal of land is devoted to vehicles alone, often much more than a building or facility takes up itself. Yet there are still instances where people cannot find a space to park their vehicle. It’s undeniably a lose-lose situation. There is a solution that can address both of these problems at the same time, however. You can maximize land use with automated parking systems in place of traditional styles of parking.
Save Horizontal Space
Automated parking makes it possible for you to save on horizontal space by reorganizing the arrangement of cars in ways that would not be possible in a normal parking lot or garage. The system can accept vehicles at an entranceway and move them onto platforms and then into internal spaces that a person does not enter. Since there is no need for maneuvering on the part of the driver, spaces can be arranged tightly. There is no need to account for a car turning, doors opening, or pedestrians walking.
As an example, you normally could not drive your car sideways in a small space between two others. You must use parallel parking skills to try to get in cautiously with forward and backward movements. An automated platform, on the other hand, can simply move a car left or right without turning it to slot it neatly into such a space, so no extra area is needed to allow for it to be parked.
Utilize Vertical Space
Parking garages may be a worthy investment over parking lots since they add extra stories without calling for more land acquisition. Still, they hold a lot of unused space that could be used better. Automated parking systems once again maximize land use here. In a typical floor within a parking garage, there is empty space between the tops of parked vehicles and the ceiling. Pathways for cars to drive upward through must also be cleared.
An automatic car parking system instead arranges vehicles in racks. This means that there isn’t too much extra clearance above each car, as racks are stacked on top of each other more compactly. Once again, the movement of the platform also eliminates the need for through-paths, so more spaces can be fitted in each level of the racks as well.
If maximizing land use for your building is a high priority to you, contact Harding Steel. We are experts at helping people improve their parking efficiency through automated parking. Whether you have a business, public building, or residential complex that requires a smarter organization of parking, we have you covered with our variety of solutions.