Mechanised car parks being considered in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: Being able to park one's car within a matter of few seconds could seem as the ultimate dream to motorists, especially those living or working in downtown areas where it is not uncommon to hunt around for 45 minutes for a parking space.

For this reason, robotised car parks, which promise to park your cars within 45 seconds, instantly got the attention of the audience at the Middle East Parking Symposium that began yesterday in Abu Dhabi.

But could that put an end to the growing parking woes of the residents?

"Yes it can", according to Nicholas F. Amiouni, a Senior Robotics Design Engineer at East and West Robotics, who design and manufacture robotised car parks. Cities like the capital need them because even businesses operating in these places will get affected if there are no proper parking spaces.

"Robotised car parks are the future. They are multi-storey parking spaces that are digitally controlled. While helping utilise the best available space, they ensure speedy retrieval of cars via a mobile phone," said Amiouni.

An Abu Dhabi Municipality official said robotised car parks are being considered to ease the parking woes faced by residents. "Introducing more parking spaces has to be done with care as otherwise this could mean inviting more cars into the city. A balance could be achieved once paid parking is introduced," he said.