In Dhaka, where traffic jam has long been stifling regular movement, automated elevated tower parking could be a solution to reduce traffic gridlock, say experts. As about 30 per cent of the road space is occupied by parked vehicles, the space freed by installing automated elevated tower parking system could give Dhaka commuters a much needed respite, experts added.

In the capital, one such automated tower parking system has been installed at Motsho Bhabon in the Ramna area. The one that is installed there is called the bidirectional parking (BDP) system. This BDP is of five levels and five grids. Explaining the operation, Moinul Huq Jason, engineer of the company that installed the parking system for the Motsho Bhaban authorities, said 21 vehicles can be parked in this system, with the maximum weight per tray being 2,500kg.

“Sedans, SUVs, microbuses and pick-ups can be parked here. The vehicles are parked in a grid system. If a vehicle is needed to be brought down from the top parking slot, a tray will come down and there's no need to remove the vehicles at the bottom,” he added.

He also said the system calculates which tray it needs to move to create the space. The system moves the vehicles horizontally and vertically to create the path, explained Jaosn. “The space required for this parking system is 46 feet width by 24 feet length. So, it’s not much. It can be installed in a very small space across the capital city,” he added.

He further said such a system has effectively reduced jams in cities like Mexico city (Former No.1 city in traffic gridlock), Sao Paolo, Mumbai and Johannesburg.

Jason said a total of Tk. 2.45 crore (excluding the land value) is needed to construct a tower for 50 cars. If one considers Tk. 30 per hour for parking charge, the revenue that can be earned along with the revenue from billboard/LED sign advertisements will make the payback period 5.5 years (approximately), with a 18.2 per cent return on investment.

Talking to The Independent, urban planner Prof. Sarwar Jahan said a mere 8 per cent of the capital’s roads are used for transportation purposes against the standard 25 per cent for a mega city.

“We don’t have enough parking space in Dhaka. A large number of private cars are parked abruptly on the road for various purposes, and this accounts for about 12-20 per cent of the total traffic gridlock”, he added.

He said the city corporations have also leased out one-third of the roads for parking. This has made the free carpet area for vehicle movement restricted to less than 8 per cent of the land area.

Dr Sarwar, who is a professor of the urban and regional planning department of BUET, said the elevated tower parking system can have a capacity of between 12 and 70 cars/SUVs, depending on the height of the

unit. It requires a small land foot print (7.5 x 6.9 metres) to accommodate such a number of parking spaces.

 “It operates with the driver parking the vehicle in the parking bay at the entrance level. Once the driver leaves the safety zone incorporated into the parking bay, the system automatically commences the vehicle parking  procedure. This is convenient, secure and  suitable for a place like Dhaka city, which is heavily burdened with traffic," he noted.

"We need to enforce this strongly, otherwise people will not stop parking on the streets, as that is a more convenient option if there is no enforcement," he said.