.gif "A Traditional and Automating Parking Space Cost Case Study")
Parking space costs a significant amount of money in development and ongoing operating costs. In 1996, a report was commissioned by the International Parking Institute, which determined that the cost of a parking space ranged from $4500 to $15000 in new parking garage development. These numbers did not take into account the ongoing costs of each spot with maintenance, staff, shovelling, insurance and other variable expenses. Now, 15 years later, the typical cost of a parking space has gone up significantly.
With rising land prices and limited space, traditional parking garages are becoming a far less attractive option with the invention of new automated parking systems. These automated parking systems are designed to be efficient and can typically park the same amount of cars in half as much space. The benefits can be illustrated in showing the numbers.
A traditional parking garage in an urban area may cost $10M in land to park roughly 400 cars. The estimated cost, based on several studies is about $8M in construction. There are also soft costs involved that can run up to $1M. In total a 400 car parking garage may cost $19M, or roughly $47,500 per spot. This number does not include the cost of operating the garage.
A robotic parking system can be built using about half of the space as a traditional parking garage and park the same number of cars. With the land cost being $5M and construction costs roughly estimated at $10.5M, and of course the same soft costs of $1M, the total cost of constructing an automated parking system can be about $16.5M. This equates to approximately $41,250 per spot.
Based on possible construction costs alone, the cost of a parking spot with a robotic parking system shows its benefits immediately - taking up less space than a traditional garage while parking the same number of cars for less per parking space. However, construction costs alone are not the only expenses associated with running a parking garage. Operating costs were released in a report called "The Garage of the Future Must be Green, March 2009,” and break down as follows.
Based on two parking systems, one a conventional and one an automated system with a capacity of 892 cars which operate 24/7 the following are said to be true;
- Conventional Parking Garage
o Payroll and Benefits: $850,000
o Insurance Expense: $95,000
o Utilities Expense: $165,000
o Repairs/Maintenance: $145,000
o Bank Fee Expense: $100,000
o Marketing Expense: $20,000
o Support Service Expense: $75,000
o Other Operating Expense: $150,000
o Real Estate Tax Expense: $150,000
o Security Camera System: $30,000
§ Total Expenses: $1,780,000 or approximately $1995.52 per parking space.
o Payroll and Benefits: $145,000
o Insurance Expense: $50,000
o Utilities Expense: $200,000
o Repairs/Maintenance: $50,000
o Bank Fee Expense: $100,000
o Marketing Expense: $20,000
o Support Service Expense: $35,000
o Other Operating Expense: $75,000
o Real Estate Tax Expense: $150,000
o Security Camera System: $30,000
o Total Expenses: $855,000 or approximately $958.52 per parking space.
At an operating cost approximately half as much as traditional car parks and a construction cost at a comparable or less than a traditional parking garage, the cost of a parking spot is significantly less with an automated parking system. As the demand for space increases and the availability decreases, being more efficient, effective and less expensive will further increase the demand for automated parking systems.