1- Summary
The proposed solution to New York City’s parking space shortage is to construct rotating parking spots underground. A compact structure has been designed to make use of the available underground space, and car owners would have to pay a fee depending on the parking duration wanted. The rotating mechanism would swap the car’s surface location with an empty parking spot underground, which would be determined using a specific code to prevent unauthorized access. Excavating and restoring the roads’ concrete and asphalt would require the use of construction machines and sturdy materials such as steel and titanium to ensure the structure’s reliability given the varying weight of cars. The cost to hire workers accumulates for more than half of the overall costs, but the long and short-term benefits of increased parking spaces and reduced traffic congestion would make it worthwhile. The proposed project would provide more parking spaces while reducing traffic congestion targeted in New York City, making it a beneficial and innovative solution to the parking shortage issue.
Table of Contents
1- Summary 3
2- Press release 3
3- Introduction 4
4- Technical Description 5
4a- Aspects
4b- Plans
4c- Precaution
5-Innovation Process 8
5a- Cost
5b- Time
5c- Materials and Machines
5d- Labor power
6- Appendices 10
6a- Appendix A
6b- Appendix B
7- References 12
2- Press Release
New York City, 2023.
Our team has come up with a new groundbreaking technology to help our people in New York with parking and traffic. This new product is called the Self Rotating Garage. This garage is set to create new standards for our people and empty out our streets of illegal parking and more space to be utilized.
The self-rotating garage is set to be the next big project for the people of New York City as it brings affordable parking and hundreds of more parking spaces to residential neighborhoods, keeping their car safe and clean and reducing the stress of finding parking spots in a city with narrow streets and bad road designs.
The Self Rotating Garage (SRG) is a new type of garage that is being built into the ground and functions as a carousel carrying your car into a parking space reserved just for you. The garage can store 50-100 cars at once, clearing the block up with cars that take up space and cars that must double park.
The SRG is being built for the people and the people only, so you won’t be seeing trucks or business and delivery vans hogging up the area inside here. The SRG is very affordable with prices being reduced for people who live in the vicinity of a garage and reduced for anyone who qualifies as low income. Neighborhoods are zoned by median income and pricing is determined from there so residents don’t have to worry about our price affecting their bank account.
The SRG managed by our team is very efficient using electricity from con Edison and solar panels while also being regularly maintained and inspected for the safety of our people and their personal vehicles.
Our garage is the next big project for the people of New York and our goal is to make everyone’s life easier with parking. This will make our streets clear and make traffic flow better.
3- Introduction
New York City is one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of over 8.4 million means finding sufficient parking space is a challenge. Building more parking structures on the surface is out of the picture due to the limited space. The proposed plan is to create more parking space underground by constructing a rotating parking spot. To utilize the underground space fully, we have designed a compact structure that would enable us to install the rotating parking spot in as many locations as possible. To use the rotating parking spot, car owners would have to pay a fee depending on the duration of parking required. The rotating mechanism would enable the car’s location on the surface to be swapped with an empty parking spot underground. Security is of paramount importance, and the proposed approach involves using a specific code to determine the availability of the parking spot. This would ensure that the parking spot is available for the car owner when needed and prevent unauthorized access to the parking spot. Excavating and restoring the concrete and asphalt of the roads would require the use of construction machines. In addition cars vary in weight, so the use of sturdy materials such as steel and titanium to ensure reliability of the overall structure. It’s important to take into account that hiring workers will be accountable for more than half of the project’s costs. Long term and short term wise this plan will increase the amount of parking spaces being offered as well as fewer traffic chaos.
The project would result in the increase of parking spaces available and a reduced traffic congestion, constructing an underground rotating parking spot would be an innovative solution to the parking shortage problem in New York City. The proposed structure would make use of the space available underground, and the use of sturdy materials would guarantee its reliability. Although the costs associated with hiring workers would be high, the long-term benefits of reduced traffic congestion and increased parking spaces would make the project worthwhile.
4- Technical Description
4a- Aspects
For furthermore understanding on the concept development all depends on the components of the underground of New York streets. The most significant factor is space as the whole goal is to preserve the most space possible. Views look more presentable when everything is visible instead of clutter being in the way.
Cars On The Sidewalk on 145 St (Barrera, 2023)
It’s common for first responders to use the sidewalk as parking spots but that is another reason to create a spot that serves two vehicles instead of just one. For citizens of New York it has a purpose to increase probabilities of a spot to park instead of having to deal with the hassle of circling around the area for one.
Cars weigh around at least 2.5 tons in modern standards and that requires materials that are able to sustain power and be able to move them around like a wheel. Hydraulics are efficient in being used in this project as they are known to be part of machinery that move objects heavy as 450 tons (Enerpac,2023).
4b-Plans
As mentioned earlier about space, the space underground is nearly unknown to the public since everyone walks above the process below. The complication of the underground depends on the area, such as being around lots of buildings; which is the whole New York with buildings everywhere whenever commuting is made. To electricity, sewage, water,and gas as the main concern to not temper with, for being the necessity of people living in the city. The other biggest regard is the transit that goes all around New York. The rails are located in the middle of the roads but the whole port(tunnels) differ by the amount of trains that may stop in that port.
National Graphic Details a Slice of Subterranean New York(National Geographic, 2014)
It’s ideal to start construction in areas that are less dense and less popular than parts of New York such as Soho. Information shows that a space of 30 feet is available to implement the garage.4 inches is already taken by the asphalt and 2 inches from the curb( Cars ranging 6-7 feet in height but only 1 car is underground as the other is above. This serves plenty of space. The parking spot will consist of 18 feet length and 9 feet wide, along with a slab that acts as a base for the machinery that occurs upon switching the parking spots. The slab is 12 feet in height and follows the same width as the parking spot of 4 feet. The parking spot will also have to be made out of durable material and not as the same materials as the asphalt. The innovation is very simple as it only rotates plates all around in one spot, the arms will have joints as well so they can bend instead of rotating as clocks but more as a straw bending.
Figure 1
Side View of the garage (Barrera, 2023)
4c-Precaution
There will be drainage in the garage, it all consists of lowering the level of the already existing drain. Intervals of the garage will cycle every hour or so if there’s two cars parked. If only 1 car is in the parking lot the garage won’t rotate. To partner with that, a scale will be paired up with the parking spots to ensure only cars are being used. Meaning a requirement of 2 tons is required to even operate the garage.
5– Innovation Process
5a- Cost
The cost for this project will be divided into 2 parts. The first part will be the cost of the build which is the machines and instruments needed for this parking project. The second parking will be the construction of the road, which is the build of the road and also the labor cost will be included in this part.
Cost for Build
The final cost for the contraption would be at least $70,000. The price is costly due to the need for durable metallic parts and machines. Machines overall will cost around 40% due to the expenses of the machines. The material will cost around 60% due to some special material that will be used in this project like the durable metallic parts.
Cost for Road
The reconstruction and maintenance costs for roads would be $250,000 per mile, which includes breaking down the road to make the parking lot and then reconstructing the road again 60% of the overall cost will go to the Labor budget. Labor is where most of the budget goes due to the time and manpower needed.
5b- Time
This parking project will be completed in 4 months. Since it’s a small project it wouldn’t take that much time. 4 months will be enough to complete the whole project.
5c- Materials
- Large Gear
- Thick steel plate
- Steel arm gear
- Steel Rods
- Hydraulic two-stage cylinders
- Nuts and bolts
- Wheel brackets
Machines
- Lifter
- Small crane
- Excavator
- Bulldozers
5d- Labor Power
There will be 60 workers working on the site. The shift will be divided into parts and each shift will have 30 workers. The project will be completed in a shorter time and we will increase the labor power.
6- Appendices
6a- Appendix A – Criteria and Evaluation
- Will This garage improve parking for residents and visitors of the neighborhood it is being made in?
- Our team aims to make parking more accessible with the rotating garage and reduce traffic in the area by doubling parking and slow downs due to people searching for parking.
- Will this take down housing units in the area it is being constructed in?
- No, this project will not take down housing or already existing buildings in the area. Our teams will be constructing vacant land in areas that need it the most. Although it is hard to find that in Manhattan it can be done as there are abandoned and empty lots of space in Upper Manhattan.
- Will the garage be efficient and reliable?
- The garage is very efficient and reliable in many ways. It is regularly maintained everyday to ensure there are no problems and if there are it will be addressed almost immediately. The garages are also rated in A+ for NYC electricity efficiency because it is not only powered by underground con Edison wire but also has solar panels to power the garage.
- Will it be affordable for the residents of the neighborhood?
- Yes it will be. Our areas will be zoned out so that if you live in the vicinity of the garage in a certain zone you will be paying a cheaper price than anyone who lives outside the zone and is trying to park there. The price is determined by median income, household size, and the type of housing in the area.
6b- Appendix B – Task Scheduling
April 19 – Assign roles and manage how we use our time and come up with a group idea.
Randy – Does sketch and technical description
Daisy – Does innovation process
Ellison – Does intro and summary
Bart – Does mapping and zone areas.
April 24 – Agree with a final decision for an Idea for a group project. – Rotating Self Garage.
April 24 – May 3 – Work on our presentation and have a sketch ready to present.
May 3 – Reflect off our presentation and determining what needs to be done to improve our proposal
May 3- May 8 – Work on our Proposal and submit by 11:59P.M.
7- References
Sheinerman, M.-R. (2022, August 16). NYC’s parking “Nightmare” deepens with 224% increase in new cars. Bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-16/where-to-park-in-nyc-rise-in-new-cars-outdoor-dining-deepen-nightmare
Virginia K. Smith | January 14. (n.d.). Maps: The Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods with the best parking options. Brick Underground. https://www.brickunderground.com/blog/best_worst_parking_neighborhoods_nyc
Press releases. NYC DOT Begins Major Expansion of On-Street Carshare After Successful Pilot. (n.d.). https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2023/expansion-on-street-carshare.shtml
City of Hudson Asphalt Road Resurfacing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) Q 1. How does a road get selected for resurfacing? (2020). https://www.hudson.oh.us/DocumentCenter/View/8257/FAQ-road-resurfacing-2020-FEB-24
Heavy Machinery Moving Equipment: Your options. Enerpac Blog. (2023, January 31). https://blog.enerpac.com/heavy-machinery-moving-equipment-your-options/#:~:text=Hydraulic%20Turntables,sits%20on%20the%20hardwood%20surface
Www.jdpower.com. (n.d.). https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/average-weight-of-a-car
Burdon, J. (2023, February 22). What are the standard parking space dimensions?. Asphalt Kingdom Blog. https://blog.asphaltkingdom.com/standard-parking-space-dimensions#:~:text=In%20North%20America%2C%20the%20standard,or%20a%20two-way%20aisle
Coneybeare, M. (2018, June 29). National graphic details a slice of subterranean New York. Viewing NYC. https://viewing.nyc/national-graphic-details-a-slice-of-subterranean-new-york/
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