Has this ever been considered as a parking solution?

I've seen this contraption with my own eyes. This is the parking garage for freshly bild Volkswagens in their birthplace in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Link.

http://sharathrao.files.wordpress.co...parkinglot.png

And there are not one, but two of these 20 story towers! And dar I say, they actually look very elegant. They would fit right in their place alongside the Renaissance Building.

http://static1.bareka.com/photos/medium/14573160.jpg

You'd expect this to result in a time consuming wait for your car but I think this will work actually much quicker than entering a regular parking on foot and retrieving the car on your own. And there's also a minimum chance your car will be damaged or the chance you'll damage someone elses car.

Here's a video.
[[In an actual parking situation you obviously leave your car at the front door, the robot will do the rest.)

There's a few in the US, and they do help save alot of space. The only issue is there has been a track record of mechanical problems and situations where people's cars have gotten stuck high up. All that aside, the technology is improving and I hope to see this a more common solution. I doubt we'll see it in Detroit where land is ridiculously cheap, but most definitely in cities of higher density.

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Originally Posted by Whitehouse

Has this ever been considered as a parking solution?

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One has been in place and operating for many years at The Lofts at Merchants Row.

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Originally Posted by wolverine

I doubt we'll see it in Detroit where land is ridiculously cheap, but most definitely in cities of higher density.

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THIS.

Why build one of these things when you can just flatten a few buildings and have a far cheaper parking lot.

How about using the bus as a parking solution? Why it also helps with congestion and air quality too!

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

How about using the bus as a parking solution? Why it also helps with congestion and air quality too!

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This is what I generally do. Nobody breaks into my car that way, either.

Works for bikes too. But then why would we need to tear down buildings? Think of all the lost demolition jobs.
http://www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl/wp-co...king-tokyo.jpg

WOW and I thought it took a lot of time getting out of the Greektown Casino ramp.

Solution to what? Detroit doesn't have a parking problem...

New York solution....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...IMG_9032sm.jpg

Yeah, the ramp at John R. and Woodward is a mechanized elevator. It is not very large, but it saves about 70% of the space a traditional ramp with that many spaces would require.

That is very cool. I actually thought of this a few years ago but didn't know if it was already invented. I guess it would suck if your car got stuck or fell off the track!

It would really suck for the guy standing under it when it fell!

Wow, that's very cool! I agree with others though that this will not be necessary in Detroit for the foreseeable future.