If you’re a visitor to London…THE London…the one in England…there are loads of things to see and do. You have all the usual tourist spots: palaces, bridges, squares, museums, towers, pubs and eye. Three spots you won’t readily find in the tourist guides are the Thames Barrier, the Royal Observatory and parking garages in London’s City Center and West End. Here’s why these make interesting tourism picks.
Although the Thames Barrier may be only the world’s second largest movable flood barrier, it is the largest located in an urban area (number one is the Oosterscheldekering in the Netherlands). Stretching more than a half kilometer across the river, the Thames Barrier is a marvel of really huge structures that move.
On a daily basis, GMT confuses millions of people worldwide. Why does my computer ask me about this GMT thing? What’s is GMT? The Royal Observatory, Greenwich is the source of GMT, Greenwich Mean Time. Here, at the reference point for all times and longitudes on Earth, you can have a foot in each the Western and Eastern hemispheres at the same time.
You will definitely not find parking garages in London in any of the tourist guides…not even the weird, little known or the off-the-beaten-path type of tourist guides. We include London’s Business District parking garages on our list of unusual London spots to visit because they are so staggeringly expensive. Perhaps that’s a dubious honor but it’s well-earned. For years, London’s City and West End parking garages have had the highest monthly parking fees compared to 154 other central business districts worldwide.
Moreover, London’s parking garages don’t simply sneak into the top stop, they own it. Imagine besting the parking costs found in big, densely populated cities such as Zurich, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Rome by 25 to 35%. That makes London’s car parking facilities truly unique.
What makes parking in London’s business areas so expensive? It’s a combination of factors…naturally.
Supply and demand explain the first factor. There aren’t enough parking spaces in the places where people want to park. Cost is the second factor. Land prices are extremely high and conventional, underground parking garages cost three times or more to build compared to aboveground multi-storey parking garages. Demographics are the third factor. Financial and high-end retail business areas attract a relatively higher number of wealthy drivers…drivers able and willing to pay exorbitant prices to park where they want to park. The bottom line is a scarcity of parking spaces in an affluent area leads to high parking costs. Parking in London, allows you park in the world’s most expensive parking spaces and hang out with lots of rich people.
Should someone rush in to create more parking spaces and reduce the cost of parking in London? That’s an entirely different discussion.
However, if they do want to do this, then automated parking systems (APS) would be a good choice.
Original post by Ladina Caluori, Skyline Parking AG - Click to view
For more information about parking solutions for London contact:
Peregrines, 17 Church Lane, Old Sodbury, Bristol, BS37 6NB, UK
Contact Person: Mr David Calthorpe
Phone: +44 7517 451318
Email: d.calthorpe@skyline-parking.com
