In 2000, a report estimated that there were 600,000,000 cars in the world and by 2030 that number could double to 1.2 billion. In the same report, it indicated that the biggest problem that the auto industry would contend with is parking. There have been few improvements on the parking experience to keep up with the growth of vehicle ownership. Converting a flat open lot of space into parking was the first improvement, and then building large buildings, also known as parking garages was the second. Since then, little has been done to find a new solution. Those two systems have remained, until the invention of the automated parking system.
Automated parking systems are designed to be efficient. By not requiring space for cars to drive in and out, and no space needed for pedestrians, these systems can park the same or more cars than a traditional car garage twice as large. It's believed that these systems will solve the growing demand for parking worldwide.
The automated systems works very simply; a driver drives into the car park bay and then exits and leaves their car. The computerized system then activates lifts to take the car to the nearest open spot. When the driver wishes to recall the vehicle, they just request it from a computer terminal outside of the car park and within 3 minutes the car is returned and the driver can drive off.
These parking systems are typically smaller than conventional parking garages. Using nearly half of the space, they can park the same or more number of cars than the conventional garage. This is due to the inefficiencies of the traditional car garage. Automated systems are also safer than the current norm. Being safely housed in a building with no traffic and no people ensures the vehicle is safe from dents, scratches and minor accidents but also from vandalism and theft.
They are also more convenient as a driver doesn't spend time searching for a spot, walking to and from their car and there's never a worry of forgetting where they parked. As a bonus, these systems are also green. With no cars driving in and out of the building, the amount of pollution is reduced to nearly zero.
All of these factors together combine to make parking garages the future of parking. Experts have already predicted that implementing these automated systems parking will reduce the demand for the increasingly rare parking spot.