Company calls on government to think outside parking box

Sixteen cars stacked on top of each other could be the solution to the parking chaos at a busy Doncaster transport hub. But at a cost of about $18,000 a car, is it worth it? WATCH THE VIDEO

A Melbourne company wants the State Government to think outside the box to deal with drivers’ frustrations at the Doncaster Park and Ride.

Motorists have been dealing with increasing parking congestion in recent years, forcing them to abandon efforts to park in the venue itself and find a spot in a nearby side street.

But now Smart Parking Australia thinks it has the solution with a system that can park up to 16 vehicles in two traditional spaces.

The parking system has been suggested as a possible solution to commuters' woes at the Doncaster Park and Ride.

Company chief executive Colin Dixon said one tower would come at an estimated cost of $290,000 or about $18,000 a vehicle and not require an attendant.

MORE TRANSDEV BUS STORIES

TRANSDEV PROMISES NO PARKING CUTS

DONCASTER-CITY OVERCROWDED NIGHTMARE

MANNINGHAM BUSES DIVERTED TO RAIL

“It is simple to operate with the driver parking and leaving the vehicle in the system at ground level,” he said.

“Once the driver leaves the parking safety zone, the vehicle is rotated by the system if an empty space is available, lifting the parked car away from the bottom central position and bringing an empty pallet to the parking position.”

Mr Dixon said retrieving a vehicle was also straight forward.

“The parked car is retrieved by pushing the button on the control panel for the relevant pallet number the car is parked on,” he said.

Congestion at the Doncaster Park and Ride makes life hard for commuters. Picture: Stuart Milligan

“This will start the system to rotate the pallet selected, and will bring the car down to ground level and stop ready for the driver to enter the safety zone and reverse the car out of the system.”

Tensions reached boiling point last week when a nearby homeowner spoke of seeing a bus attempting to enter the parking section of the transport hub last month.

Mary Spencer told the Manningham Leader it led to speculation that buses would soon be stationed there, leading to further cuts on spaces for private cars.

Transdev denied it would happen.

[e-mail]