Parking Problem in Abu Dhabi - Case Study Example

Name: University: Instructor: Date: Automated Car Parking Up Ground / Down Ground as a Solution for Car Parking Problem 1.0 Brief description of the problem When The project was initiated early in 2015, but it is still ongoing. Where The project is taking place in UAE capital city, Abu Dhabi Who The people involved include the residents, business community, schools, local government, and law enforcement agencies. What There is a major parking problem in Abu Dhabi and closely connected to environment pollution, traffic accident, as well as traffic congestion. 2.0 Problem Statement 2.1 Problem Observation These days, the parking-related problems affect scores of metropolises across the globe; thus, creating the need for a sustainable solution. Following the rapid traffic demand incensement, the discrepancy between parking demand as well as parking supply and have resulted in the metropolis parking challenges. As mentioned by Rajab and Alzoubi (2679), car parking has become a major issue in UAE, and the problem is related to the exceptional increase in the number of vehicles as well as other transportation modes over the last few decades. As cited by Sherif, the parking woes in Abu Dhabi has continually disrupted the peoples’ lives so much to the extent that many residents spend most of their time to find a vacant spot. Finding parking space in Abu Dhabi is a major problem that cannot be solved by collecting fees only. For instance, a block having three buildings with a total number of 150 apartments has been assigned just 22 parking spots; thus, leaving 138 residents with no allocated parking space (Sherif). Besides that, most motorists have insufficient information regarding the availability of spots, and so, they are often frustrated when they find limited parking or spend most their time looking for a parking space. Furthermore, the existing parking capacity is utilized insufficiently because of development practices such as building codes and local zoning ordinances which lead to parking spaces as well as poor utilisation of the existing parking. The issue is exacerbated by excessive automobile utilisation which results in high car parking demand, increased accident risk, negative impacts on land use, and environmental degradation. In addition, businesses are experience challenges in retaining customers because of the issue of finding parking spaces. 2.2 Problem Definition Nearly all major cities across the world such as Tokyo, London, New York, Sydney, and Washington DC are struggling to offer sufficient parking to their residents. People living in such cities often spend most of their time looking for a parking spot. Cities across the globe should offer affordable and convenient parking for both the residents as well as the visitors. As indicated by Beetham, Enoch and Tuuli (197), most of the city traffic congestions are caused by motorists searching for parking spots. Evidently, offering adequate space is vital, but as long as the commercial and residential areas are far apart, car dependency will still remain high. Commercial areas and neighboring residential areas are experiencing pressure related to overspill. In Abu Dhabi, there is scarce parking for commercial trucks to facilitate offloading and loading activities; therefore, these vehicles often block the travel lanes. Furthermore, motorists find it challenging to find parking during the day, and this often leads to pollution, traffic congestion, and time wastage. According to Liu, Wang and Ding (3), the demand for parking facilities has increased tremendously because of high population growth rate and increased number of cars on the roads. Basically, the disparity between the rapid motor vehicle increment as well as inadequate parking facilities leads to parking problems. The parking issues in Abu Dhabi and other cities across UAE must be monitored to ensure that the facility inefficiency and usage does not exacerbate the parking problem. 3.0 Solution 3.1 Idea Synthesis The most suitable solution for the car parking issue is the automated car parking up ground/down ground system. The system carries the vehicles in lifts to different multilevel parking levels. The automated car parking system would help reduce pollution and increase parking space since they require less ground area and building volume as compared to conventional parking facilities with a similar capacity. According to Waghmare, Nirwan and Rahate (16), automated car parking depends on technology akin to that utilized for document retrieval as well as mechanical handling. The car is left at the entrance module, and then a robot trolley transports it to a parking slot. In consequence, the time used by drivers to search for parking slots is reduced since they leave their vehicles inside the entrance module. In addition, mechanized lifts are utilized in the automated car parking to transport the vehicle to different levels. For that reason, such automated car parks require less ground space as well as less building volume resulting in building’s cost savings. The system would be valuable in reducing space wastage where over 100 vehicles can be parked. In addition, the system allows vehicles to be parked, floor after floor; therefore, plummeting the utilized space. The system is not just modernized, but also saves a lot of space. Therefore, this parking system would be suitable for Abu Dhabi and other UAE since they face space shortages and have a high number of vehicles. As mentioned by Albagul, Alsharef and Saad (174), when cities fail to accommodate the increasing number of cars, the economic activities would be influence unless they develop efficient parking solutions. Therefore, automated car parking up ground/down ground system would provide improved flexibility since it offers a fast parking process where the motorists are not required to maneuver their cars on every level. The mechanized lift moves the cars automatically from one floor to another considering that the car parking has numerous layers or floors where the cars are parked. Exterior or interior ramps are utilized to facilitate access to different levels. Green and red signals are utilized to connote that the ground floor is there is space and no space, respectively. When the ground floor is full, the red light will turn on, and the elevator would move to the first floor where the green light is on (Albagul, Alsharef and Saad 174). 4.0 A mini-case about implementing the solution 4.1. Brief presentation of the company The company is known as GiTech and provides automated parking system solutions that would help solve the Abu Dhabi car parking issues. The company constructs car parking facilities that allow for automated car parking, storing as well as retrieval in a secure, efficient, and swift way as compared to the conventional garages. The company place emphasis on personal safety by means of complete transfer rooms’ surveillance. To facilitate effective parked automobile delivery into the designated parking slot, the company has developed numerous principle techniques. The first technique is Metro Trolley, which is suitable for areas with sufficient land and large building volume. In this principle, cars are delivered by the lift vertically by utilising trolley on all floors in order to horizontally complete the parking process. The principle allows the utilisation of steel and concrete structures. Another technique is Metro Trans, which is suitable for areas that are extensive and have large capacities. The principle employs both vertical movement and horizontal simultaneously. Other techniques provided by the company include Metro Tower, Metro Cylinder, Metro CL, and Tower Elevator. 4.2. Intellectual property protection Given that automated car parking up ground/down ground system is a new invention, it qualifies for patent protection because it is useful and novel. Basically, patent protection would provide enormous benefits to the innovators; for instance, the innovator would receive big returns after commercialization of the innovation and would also promote systematic knowledge sharing by means of patent disclosure. Furthermore, intellectual property protection of this technology would help support business expansion and also attract investment partners. Automated car parking would become the backbone of UAE digitalized economy; therefore, intellectual property (IP) laws play a major role. In UAE, patent protection is offered for inventions that are not just useful, but also inventive and new. The automated car parking would require national route intellectual property protection and would enable the innovator to capitalize on UAE’s membership in regional and international bodies as well as treaties such as Gulf Cooperation Council, Patent Cooperation Treaty, World Intellectual Property Organization and others. 4.3. Value chain analysis The value chain of automated car parking can be analyzed based on primary and secondary activities. With the view to the primary activities, inbound logistics is very important because installing the system needs the company to have healthy relationships with the suppliers. Service is also an important primary activity for automated car parking since it involves activities that would enable the system to work effectively for the end users. In this case, marketing and sales are not an important factor since the demand for car parking is exceedingly higher as compared to supply; therefore, there is a ready market for the product. Regarding secondary activities, human resource management and procurement are very important because they involve activities such as hiring software engineers that would help create the system, training employees, and purchasing resources that are useful for the system. Another important activity is technological development, which is associated with software, hardware, equipment, as well as technical knowledge attributed to the process of transforming inputs into outputs. Infrastructure is also important because it serves the needs of the company and ties its different parts together. 4.4. Value proposition / Business model Basically, the automated parking system offers value using different elements like performance, newness, design, customization, risk and cost reduction, convenience/usability, as well as accessibility. The automated parking system’s value propositions include minimal manpower; environmentally sustainable; save fuel, money, and time; and promotes security and safety. When compared to the conventional parking facilities, automated parking System is undoubtedly efficient because it needs a much smaller area to park the same number of vehicles as conventional parking facilities. In addition, the automated parking system’s design flexibility help in terms of profitability and feasibility since parking can be positioned anywhere such as underground, above ground, freestanding, and even areas that are irregularly shaped. More importantly, the system is more sustainable and eco-friendly since they reduce CO2 emissions attributed to cars’ idling while looking for parking spaces. As mentioned above, the system promotes security and safety because pedestrians and drivers are removed from the parking area. Therefore, cases of stolen cars or damage are reduced to zero. 4.4. Source of finance The project could be financed through different mechanisms such as in-lieu parking fees, special funding, and grants from the government, bank loans, transient occupancy tax, and so forth. Another suitable way to pay for the construction of the automated parking facility is through the issuance of municipal bonds. Such could be general obligation bonds that are supported by the revenue bonds or general taxation revenues that are normally paid off as parking fees revenues. The project can also be financed by parking enforcement revenue unless the parking tickets revenues are directly deposited into the community's general fund. The issuance of tax increment finance bond, the extra taxes that would be generated from the increased property values because of the new automated parking facility could be pledged to reimburse the bond. 4.6. Team Given that car parking issue is a major problem, a project manager must be created to ensure that the installation of automated parking systems across Abu Dhabi is completed successfully. The team leader from the business community would have to make sure that the project proceeds according to the specified duration as well as under the agreed budget. The members of the team would have to make sure that the project has adequate resources and also ensure that the relationship between the team and the stakeholders is cordial. The team would comprise of at least one representative from UAE’s Department of Transport, Department of Transport and Infrastructure, Abu Dhabi Municipality, the business community, and residents of Abu Dhabi. Other members include representatives from Environment Agency, National Transport Authority, Transportation and Traffic Safety Research Centre, Ministry of Planning, Abu Dhabi Police, and many others. Work Cited Albagul, A., et al. “Design and Fabrication of an Automated Multi-level Car Parking System.” Manufacturing Engineering, Automatic Control and Robotics. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: WSEAS Press, 2014. 173-178. Beetham, Isobel Frances, et al. “Stakeholder perspectives on the value of car parking.” Urban, Planning and Transport Research: An Open Access Journal 2.1 (2014): 195–214. Liu, Yuejun, et al. “Metropolis Parking Problems and Management Planning Solutions for Traffic Operation Effectiveness.” Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2012 (2012): 1-6. Rajab, Sharaf A. Alkheder l Murad M. Al and Khalid Alzoubi. “Parking problems in Abu Dhabi, UAE toward an intelligent parking management system ‘‘ADIP: Abu Dhabi Intelligent Parking”.” Alexandria Engineering Journal 55.3 (2016): 2679–2687. Sherif, Iman. Parking a daily misery in Abu Dhabi as Mawaqif fails to solve problem. 3 July 2011. 3 April 2017. . Waghmare, Akash, et al. “Introduction To Multistage Car Parking System.” IPASJ International Journal of Mechanical Engineering 4.4 (2016): 16-19. Read More