Parking in large cities has long been a sore topic not only for motorists but also for representatives of authorities at different levels.
The lack of parking places entails many other problems: artificial narrowing of the roadway due to multimeter rows of parked cars, deterioration of the environmental situation, damage to lawns, and much more. But there is a solution – and not one.
According to statistics, more than 50% of drivers regularly face a parking problem, and the longest time they spent looking for parking over the past year is from 11 to 20 minutes and 20% – 21 to 30 minutes.
If we are speaking about annual numbers, parking time per year can be close to 44 hours and can cost more than 800$ in wasted time, emissions, and fuel.
Solution Options
Many countries have learned to solve this issue, sometimes quite dramatically. Here are just a few solutions to the problem of parking spaces in major European cities :
- construction of underground parking lots;
- construction of multi-storey parking lots;
- construction of intercepting parking lots at the entrance to the city or its central part;
- prohibition or restriction of entry into the city center by private transport (except for residents of central districts);
- increase in fines for parking violations;
- ecological parking – improvement of urban lawns for outdoor parking.
How Is The Problem With Parking Solved In Different Countries Of The World?
In Denmark, parking lots are equipped on the roadsides and offer car owners to leave their vehicles there for up to 1 hour.
For free, but for a maximum of 2 hours, you can park your car in parking areas with a special sign, where you must use a parking disc (usually they lie in the glove boxes of rented cars).
In case you need to book long-term parking, you can use special services like Lokalebasen to check for free spaces.
In the center of Berlin, they do not take money for parking, people can park freely. Moreover, in the German family, it is customary to have at least two cars.
But the state obliges all developers to build houses necessarily with garages and parking lots. If the developer does not do this, he pays a large fine, about 10 thousand euros for one car-place not built.
In Japan, the rules are much stricter. A person will not be able to buy a car if he has not previously purchased a parking space.
The same rules exist in Beijing, as well as in Shanghai. Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to directly buy a place, it is allowed to rent it using a special service like the Danish Lokalebasen.
They say it is much cheaper this way. But, again, you must provide a contract concluded for a long time, plus the place must be near the house.
The difficulties do not end there. It is not enough just to buy a parking space, you have to show the police a diagram on which the size will be displayed.
A lot of parking lots are being built in the USA. The ratio of 250 seats per 100 apartments, that is, those who wish can even buy several cars for a family.
Either public transport or guest cars are stopped in the courtyards. Low-rise houses are also sold exclusively with garages.
Despite this, in New York people still face the problem of parking. When moving to a particular area, people first of all, look at whether they can afford this vehicle, taking into account the cost of a parking space.
In France, the authorities have banned parking in the city center. Citizens most often leave their cars in underground parking lots. The cost of one seat exceeds 100 euros per month.
In South Korea, the authorities also obliged all developers to include underground parking in the layout. A family can put one car absolutely for free, but you will have to pay extra for the second one.
In Bangkok, the problem of parking is being actively solved, there they allocate the first floors of residential buildings for them, and they can also erect a separate building nearby.
Based on the above, we can say that today in many countries the reason for the emergence of street parking is the intensive growth in the number of vehicles, improper organization and lack of specially equipped parking areas, and insufficient use of modern technical means.
To solve this problem, it is necessary to take the following measures: to develop scientific solutions to existing problems and effectively use modern technical means.
