Hello World! Welcome Friends! Car parks aren’t actually shrinking. But, the number of vehicles on the road is growing rapidly, there are currently nearly 20 million vehicles on the road. That leads to congestion and the increased competition makes it harder to find a parking space. This process is made even more complicated by what’s referred to as ‘car park shrinkage’.
Photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash
Understanding Car Park Shrinkage
Cities have always have limited parking facilities. It’s a balancing act between homes, businesses, and recreational spaces. In short, there isn’t any room for the existing car parks to expand. Of course, there is also the question of whether car parks need to expand.
You may be surprised to discover that recent studies have shown that many city apartment blocks are only using 60% of their available parking. It appears that the issue isn’t so much the availability of space, but the use of what’s available.
Car park shrinkage relates to the fact that cars are getting bigger. It’s estimated that the average car is 25% longer and wider than it was 50 years ago when many car parks were built. The reason is simple, people are generally taller and fatter than they used to be, smaller cars are no longer an option.
However, car parking spaces have remained the same size. The official dimensions of a parking space are 2.4m wide by 5.4m long. An average-sized car is 4.6m long and 1.8m wide. In principle, the parking space seems acceptable.
But, that only leaves 60cm, that’s 30cm on each side of your vehicle assuming you’re parked in the middle of your space. Even if the next car is parked perfectly, 60cm is not much room to slide out of your car.
In short, car parks haven’t shrunk, cars have grown. When you have an expensive car the last thing you want to do is park it where someone can accidentally dink it getting out of their own vehicle.
The Cure
The government is starting to realize that the issue isn’t the availability of spaces, it’s the use of what is available. With so many unused apartment spaces the obvious solution is to rent these out instead of conventional car parking.
Private car parks often have larger spaces and apartment owners tend to take more care when parking. In fact, this approach is already being adopted by some people. For example, if you need to find parking in Southbank, check out this link to Southbank parking. You’ll be able to find spaces available for lease from private homeowners.
This guarantees availability and price, usually considerable cheaper than a traditional car park. It also eliminates concerns over car park shrinkage and many apartment blocks have better security than traditional parking facilities.
Spend a few moments looking and you’ll even find a space closer to the office or event that you wish to attend.
Car parks are suffering from shrinkage but that doesn’t mean you have to struggle to find parking or risk having your car scraped. You simply need to adapt your approach.
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