The amount of cars on the road is steadily increasing, and traffic jams are now part of our daily lives. One way to reduce pollution and traffic flow is by changing the infrastructure of our roads and creating car-free areas, bike lanes, as well as other types of public transportation such as buses. However, this type of solution will take years, if not decades, to implement across the world. There is an alternative, though — parking garages with an automated parking system (APS).

Parking structures require large amounts of level surfaces to park vehicles on; however, many cities’ urban morphology does not include sufficient area for these structures, and therefore they need to be located outside city centers. This leaves drivers with longutes from their homes into work every day. By placing APSs underground, drivers can easily park their cars and go straight to work without the hassle of urban traffic jams.

Another advantage is that by building car parks underground, it allows more room for buildings above ground. This increases the number of floors in a building which means more rentable spaces for business owners. It also provides an opportunity to build new structures on empty land around the city.

While these benefits are good enough reasons to implement APSs across cities, there are other advantages as well. When vehicles are placed in underground garages, they do not take up valuable asphalt space on roads above them that could be used for parking or driving lanes. The environment is also one of the main beneficiaries of APSs as they require less energy and water to build and maintain.

APSs vary in their mechanics; some use the valet system, where a robot brings your car down from street level and parks it for you, while others operate like push-button elevators that take cars directly into underground garages. Likewise, there are different types of automation, such as counterbalance (where cars are loaded onto an elevator with the driver inside) or cradle (where the driver pulls into a designated area and leaves his vehicle before it is automatically parked).

It may sound like science fiction, but APSs can actually be built today. Companies such as KLA Tencor and Vanderlande Industries have developed systems that function at nearly 100 percent capacity. The cost of building APSs is increasing, but the benefits of using them far outweigh their cost.

According to Vanderlande Industries, there are many benefits for companies that invest in automated parking systems. APSs will reduce site operating costs by up to 50 percent compared with conventional car parks while at the same time providing a 30-50 percent increase in available vehicle spaces. The company also claims that fully automated car parks have up to 20 percent less staff.