An innovative, efficient and safe solution to the lack of parking in Cape Town’s CBD will soon be arriving, meaning driving in endless circles to find a spot may become a thing of the past.
The self-operating AutoDock parking facility is scheduled to launch at the start of 2019. AutoDock is a fully automated parking service capable of allowing 16 cars to fit in a space of just two.
The company has successfully installed over 400 systems in more than 10 countries around the world, creating an efficient parking solution.
AutoDock CEO Roi Lagrisi explains that implementing the service in Cape Town is necessary given the lack of parking space in the CBD area.
“The drive for more innovative and space-efficient parking solutions comes from the massive demand for parking in the city’s densest and most sought-after areas. In these areas property prices are insanely high, and construction costs are soaring, so every square meter and parking opportunity needs to be optimised,” he says.
Safety and costs
The system is perfectly safe for vehicles – motorists simply drive into the parking garage entrance, turn off their car, lock and leave while the automated system does the rest. The vehicle is lifted up on a secured pallet and shifted to its optimum position by a series of mechanical lifts and sliders.
“In terms of safety from criminals, the parking garage is a fully automated system that requires no human intervention, and no one can enter the space,” says Lagrisi.
All the mechanical moving parts have foolproof safety systems.
No official costs have been finalised for the public parking systems and are dependent on various factors such as the number of bays and the system best suited to any given site (there are four varying AutoDock systems).
Lagrisis explains the parking rate will be lower than current CBD rates.
“But as you can park double the number of cars in any given space compared to traditional parking, the hourly, daily or monthly rate will be significantly lower than traditional parking in town,” he says.
It is not clear yet where exactly in the city the parking service will be implemented.
Picture: Unsplash
