Arrowstreet is a Boston-based architectural firm that specializes in parking garage design.
So they’ve naturally been thinking about what autonomous vehicles mean for the future of parking garages.
Their hypothesis is that garages will evolve in two stages.
The first stage involves modifying conventional parking garages to support both conventional cars and self-driving cars. Conventional cars would park closer to the pedestrians, to minimize effort for drivers, and autonomous vehicles can park themselves further back (or up) in the garage.
The second stage of development will be garages oriented completely towards autonomous vehicles. These garages will have very tight parking in a restricted area, with vehicles driving out to specified zones for passenger retrieval.
Arrowstreet even thinks that conventional garages can be retro-fitted for residential and commercial space once parking is no longer a necessity.
David Silver 