Puzzle Parking: Future Of High Rise Apartments In India Or Big Inconvenience?
The problem of parking space for cars in densely populated cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, and others is getting out of hand. So in order to solve this issue, engineers and residential building developers have come up with a unique solution, and that is puzzle parking. For those who may not be aware, puzzle parking is a mechanical multilevel parking system where the cars are stored on platforms. Now, although it seems like a brilliant idea, some people think that it's a massive inconvenience. Today we'll tell you what it actually is.
Following this, the car then goes down six levels and is pushed ahead. Soon after this, it slides left while sitting on a ramp. The video then shows the car coming back outside using the same process. As per the video, it only takes around 1.5–2 minutes for the entire process. It also mentions that this is the future of parking in high-rise buildings, and it's time for people to adapt and survive.
Now, for those comparing puzzle parking with vertical parking, it has to be mentioned that in vertical parking, cars can only be stacked on top of each other. However, in a puzzle parking system, the platforms move vertically as well as horizontally like pieces of a sliding puzzle. This system rearranges parked cars to create a path for the target car to exit. Puzzle parking helps in increasing the parking capacity by 2–5 times within the same area as traditional parking.
Today, a number of property developers are installing puzzle parking systems in their high-rise buildings as the land prices in densely populated cities are becoming extremely expensive. Also, the municipal norms are now getting stricter and require fixed parking ratios. So this system helps in allotting more flats per plot and increases the saleable area of any project.
Puzzle parking has a lot of advantages, which include reduced street congestion, as people are less likely to park on the sides of roads; less time spent searching for parking spots; and better protection of the vehicle from theft, vandalism, and weather damage.
However, just like everything, puzzle parking also has its disadvantages. Unlike normal parking spots, you cannot just drive in and out with your vehicle quickly. In most cases, the vehicle owner has to wait for the system to rearrange the cars, and for some, that 1–3 minutes of wait can be crucial. Also, during peak hours, a long queue can form outside the parking, which is another big hassle.
Another major issue is that the puzzle parking system depends on electricity. So during power failures, cars get trapped inside, and backup generators increase the cost and maintenance. Speaking of maintenance, we all know that a lot of things in India are poorly maintained, and due to this, some major accidents have already taken place across the country.
In the video above, it can be noted that a car fell on top of a white-colored Honda City, which managed to destroy both cars. Now, how exactly this happened has not been mentioned. However, it is exactly one of the biggest fears that most people have with puzzle parking.
Additionally, another video was shared online in which not two but multiple cars, including a Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Ritz, and a Range Rover Evoque, along with others, were seen on top of each other after this particular puzzle parking system failed.
Many people have highlighted that another major inconvenience caused by the puzzle parking system is that if someone forgets something inside a vehicle, they have to again go through the entire process of retrieving the car and then reparking it.
Most real-life scenarios involve forgetting your laptop, earphones, medicines, or any other item inside the vehicle. Also, if one needs to rush to the hospital or leave urgently and there is a power outage, it just makes the situation worse.
Additionally, as electric cars are now becoming a bigger part of society, puzzle parking adds to the troubles of EV owners. As we all know, EVs require fixed charging points and long charging times, but puzzle parking moves cars constantly, so it cannot guarantee a fixed spot. So the question arises: where would the EV charger be placed?
Also, cable management, fire safety concerns, and electrical load management become extremely complex. Lastly, puzzle parking has height and weight limits, so larger SUVs and luxury cars cannot fit and are not allowed in them, which adds to the problem for normal people.
Well, we think that even though there are several disadvantages of puzzle parking, it has to be noted that this is indeed the future of parking in cities where free land is becoming rare. People will slowly have to adapt to the situation and accept puzzle parking if they are required to live in high-rise buildings. We are not saying that it will happen overnight, but India will slowly adapt to this system, especially in space-starved metros.