For as long as people have been driving cars, there has been the problem of what to do with them when they’re parked. Urban land is expensive. Increasing the amount of parking available by stacking cars has huge economic advantages.

There are many variations on the basic car transportation, but the basic principle for all systems is the same. The driver parks the car while technology, usually a hydraulic lift, moves that car to a storage area. Vehicles can be moved up or down to any number of levels or horizontally. When the driver returns, the process is reversed and technology returns the car to the driver at the base level. Hydraulic parking lifts are very popular because of their proven ability to lift heavy objects, and the fact that the machinery involved itself does not use up much space.

In the commercial context there are a number of variations on the car parking lift. Dependent parking lifts work efficiently where available height is an issue and can provide up to three times the normal parking coverage. Independent parking lifts include support for heavier vehicles.

For residential and restricted use, there is also a number of parking lift systems notable for their versatility in a built environment. Systems take into account everything from the weight of cars to the ceiling height of the garage area in question. Some parking lift systems can use a pit for the hydraulics, others don’t require it. Systems can recognize also the varying needs of short-term and long-term parking. There are parking lift systems for exterior situations, and ones that accommodate the need of handicapped drivers for easy access area to the car. Bikes can also be stored by parking lifts, and the kind of flooring used can reflect the kind of wear and tear the parking solution will receive. Efficiency, ease of use, and conservation of property and the environment, parking lifts are an idea long in the making, and rapidly becoming more popular.