Types of conventional Parking system

Conventional parking system can be divided into two main parts, namely on street parking and off street
parking.

On Street Parking
In this type of parking system, the vehicles are usually parked on the street itself. Generally, these
parking spaces are controlled by government whereby parking coupons are provided to park in some of
these parking spaces. The current rate is Rs20 for two hours in Mauritius. On street parking system can
be further divided into parallel parking, 30 parking, 45 parking, 60 parking and right angled parking.

Figure 1: On street Parking.

Parallel Parking
The vehicles are parked alongside the road. There is no forward or backward movement
comprised while parking or unparking. This type of parking strategy has the lowest risk of
accidents but consumes a lot of spaces.

Figure 2: Parallel Parking.

30, 45,60, right angled parking

Here, the vehicles are parked depending on the degrees of the parking space to the road. For
example, for a 30 parking, the vehicles are parked 30 to the road, in this way for a 45, 60 and
right angled parking, the vehicles are parked 45, 60 and right angled respectively to the road.
In this system, as the number of degrees increases, the number of parking spaces increases.
However, for a right angled parking, there is difficulty in parking the vehicle and also obstruction
and accidents can occur.

Figure 3: 30,45,60,right angled parking.

Offstreet Parking:
This consists of areas used only for parking purposes. It is found some distance away from the
mainstream traffic and is usually controlled by the commercial organizations.

Figure 4: Offstreet Parking.

Effects of Parking
Congestion
On street parking as well as offstreet takes a huge amount of space alongside the
road and other areas. This results in a decrease of the road capacity. Hence, the
traffic speed is reduced considerably leading to an increase in the journey delay
time as well as an increase in the operational cost of vehicles. Moreover,
pavements are also blocked by vehicles parked onto them, forcing the pedestrians
to walk on the road.

Figure 5: Congestion caused by vehicles being parked alongside the road.

Accidents
Accidents can be caused by inattentive manipulation of vehicles while parking or unparking.
Driving in and out a vehicle from the parking lot, incautious opening of doors are among the
most common parking accidents. Moreover, due to lack of parking lots, some vehicles are
parked on the pavement, giving the pedestrians no other choice than walking on the road and
hence this can cause accidents.

Figure 6: Vehicles parked on pavements.

Obstruction
Emergency operations involving firefighting, ambulance and police can be obstructed due to the
wrong parking of vehicles.
Environmental Pollution
Parking can also cause pollution such as noise and air pollution due to the redundant stopping
and starting of the vehicles. Moreover, parking alongside and near buildings can be an eyesore
to the environment as the aesthetic beauty of the buildings is hindered.

Security
Parking is becoming more and more insecure. Vehicles are b eing vandalized and
even stolen. Moreover crimes such as thefts, murders and rapes are increasing in
parking spaces such as multi-level parking or underground parking.

References

Rathi et al; 2007-2014.Different types of Parking Spaces and Multiple Level Car Parking .
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Rathi et al;2014. Different types of Parking Spaces and Multiple Level Car Parking . [ONLINE]
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Rathi et al;2014. Different types of Parking Spaces and Multiple Level Car Parking . [ONLINE]
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