Don Mauro, Parking Vault Ltd.

Don Mauro of Parking Lot Ltd. spoke about his company's innovative solution for urban parking: an automatic, multi-level, and scalable parking system that costs about the same as a traditional parking garage. The system consists of device called a mule that automatically lifts a car and places it on a shelf.

Mr. Mauro sees five main advantages of a parking vault. The first advantage is speed. A properly configured parking vault can park 4 cars a minute-- much faster than the 5-15 minutes that one might spend parking a car in a busy lot or garage. Secondly, a parking vault only uses about 60% the space of a traditional parking garage, space which could be used to park more cars or for other development. Mauro even argues that a parking vault can be cheaper than a traditional parking garage since its shelves are modular and require less engineering. Because people do not have access to the parking shelves, parking vaults are much safer and more secure than parking garages or parking lots. Lastly, a parking vault is just as convenient as a valet, perhaps even more so since one does not have to wait as long for a valet to retrieve a vehicle.

This technology could revolutionize urban centers by saving time and reducing crime. In both downtown Dallas and Fort Worth, you see a lot of surface parking lots. These spaces could provide more spaces along with mixed use development. It's unfortunate that most cities have not updated their city codes to allow for this innovative technology.

I can also see industrial applications for this technology. It would not take much to modify the parking vault shelves into automated loading docks for trailers. Pallets could be loaded into trailers automatically while the trailers are on the shelves. The trailers could then be lowered and then hooked up to semi trucks. This would make loading freight much faster, cheaper, and safer.