Robots park your car for Dh5 an hour at world’s biggest automated parking facility which has made it to the Guinness World Records
By Jay B. Hilotin, Chief Reporter, Gulf News
Published: 22:30 February 6, 2013
Dubai: Can’t find cheap parking when visiting Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)?
Take heart, because for just Dh5 an hour your car will be safely tucked away by an automated parking system at Emirates Financial Towers (EFT), a few metres from the Ritz-Carlton DIFC. That’s half the fee charged by neighbouring buildings in the free zone.
EFT’s automated parking system — the world’s biggest robotic parking facility — opened to the public on January 15.
“The rates depend on usage,” said Rabih Aghnatios, Technical Manager for Mag Robotic Systems (MRS), which built the facility. “It’s Dh5 for the first hour, Dh5 for the second hour and Dh10 for the third hour. From 7pm, there’s a flat fee of Dh15 until 7am the next day.”
Customers who shop or dine at outlets in the 25-storey building get free parking upon validation of their tickets, he said. Though the installation is the second in the UAE (MRS also built a smaller robotic parking complex at the Ibn Battuta Gate Offices), the one at EFT is record-breaking — it can fit in 1,191 vehicles, which has earned it a Guinness World Record.
The magic begins after you drive into a bay that looks like an auto-paint box. Each bay is equipped with 16 sensors to make sure that the vehicle is parked properly and there are no people in the vehicles.
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Economics, United Arab Emirates