A self-park garage is a parking facility where drivers find a space, park and retrieve their own vehicles, rather than handing them to valets or attendants.
It is the most common way parking is operated in the U.S., from shopping centers and offices to airports and hospitals. Because customers do the parking, the facility has to do the explaining: layout, circulation, lighting and wayfinding carry the experience that staff provide in a valet operation. See valet parking and attendant parking.
Advantages
- Lower labor cost than valet or attendant operations.
- Customers keep their keys and come and go on their own schedule.
- Simpler liability, since the operator usually does not take custody of the car. See bailment.
What makes it work
- Clear, simple circulation. See circulation system.
- Stall and aisle sizes that fit today’s larger vehicles. See design vehicle.
- Wayfinding and level identity that help people find their car. See cognitive map.
- Guidance systems that show available spaces. See parking guidance system.
- Good lighting and open sightlines for safety.
The Parkonomics view
In a self-park garage the building is the attendant. Every design decision either answers the driver’s next question or makes them ask it.
Related terms: Free-Standing Parking Garage, Attendant Parking, Valet Parking, Wayfinding, Parking Guidance System, Method of Operation