Parking

Four years ago we first heard about a lockable weatherproof pod called the Alpen Bike Capsule, designed for securely storing bicycles outdoors. The latest incarnation of the device is not only larger, but also features an electronic locking system.

While you could just lock your ebike to a signpost or rack, wouldn't it be nice to park it someplace where it got recharged, and you could store your gear? HAVN was designed to serve those purposes.

The latest example of an automated valet service is a collaborative effort from Ford, Bosch and Detroit-based real estate firm Bedrock, in which connected Ford Escapes find empty spaces and park themselves inside a garage.

We've seen a number of solutions aimed at automatically parking the car so that drivers don't have to. Bosch and Daimler say that their app-controlled system is the first fully autonomous, completely driverless parking service to be officially approved by authorities for everyday use.​

Ector Hoogstad Architects is behind the creation of the world's largest bicycle parking center, which is part of a grand scale redevelopment of the Utrecht Centraal Railway Station in the Netherlands and boasts an innovative layout that manages the flow of both pedestrians and cyclists.

​Imagine if instead of paying for downtown parking, you could just have your car cruise the streets by itself while you attended to your business, and then return to pick you up when summoned? A new study suggests that's exactly what driverless cars could do – and it may cause a big problem.

Airport parking sucks, but a little French robot parking valet wants to make it better for everyone. After successful trials in Paris and Lyon, the Stan autonomous parking system is on its way to Gatwick, London – and it looks like a terrific idea.

​A tennis ball on a string may good at letting you know when you've fully pulled your car into your garage, but it can get in the way, plus its location is based on the length of one specific vehicle. Inventor Mitchel Ottinger has created what he thinks is a better system, in the form of Park-a-Dot.

​It can be hard work, using a spotter and/or your vehicle's mirrors to move a trailer into a tight space such as a parking spot or garage. The Trailer Valet RVR, however, is intended to make the job easier. Essentially, it's a remote-control trailer-parking tank.

Autonomous cars could prove to be splendid news for parking, according to new research from the University of Toronto. Because self-driving cars can park themselves, you can cram many more cars in. But according to the researchers, if autonomous cars work together, even more space can be saved…

​​Bikes are everywhere in the Netherlands, which can make finding somewhere to park a problem. Cyclists​ in Utrecht started using a parking garage under the train station last week, ahead of an August 21 official opening. When complete, it will be the world's largest parking facility for bikes.​​

Autonomous vehicles promise to makes things a whole lot more convenient, and that may extend to the tedious task of finding a parking spot. Working towards such a future, Daimler and Bosch, have demonstrated an autonomous valet service that can be initiated by smartphone.