Hoboken, New Jersey – 314 Spaces

The installation of the Robotic Parking System in Hoboken, New Jersey was the first such automated parking garage in the United States of America. In the socio-political environment of Hoboken, it was a “challenge” (to say the least) to not only set-up but also to operate the system. And, naturally we learned a lot in both technical and “environmental” aspects.

During the construction and commissioning period, local writer Jeff Faria independently followed the developments related to the garage for the Hoboken Reporter,  and issued his report here.  A summary of the politic developments related to the garage and their outcomes can be found here.

Two years after commercial operations began, Parking, the National Parking Association magazine, published the report Automated Parking: Two-Year Report Card. Click here to read the report.

Today, computer logs of close to 700,000 transactions in the automated parking garage show an “up time” over four years of continuous 24/7 operation of 99.99%. Occupancy of the 314 space Hoboken facility is above 300 cars.

During such intensive operational conditions, we were able to learn exactly what elements could be improved and then incorporated those improvements into our next generation installations.

Users of the Hoboken facility have regularly filled out written survey forms that have shared their pleasure in the garage’s operation:

“I’d give up food before I’d give up this garage.” –E.H.

“… it has been easy and trouble free – very pleasant – and the closest we will come to a driveway in Hoboken.” –L.V.

“… It’s such a pleasure to park and walk across the street to my apartment. I’ve been timing how long it takes to retrieve my car, and it’s been about 1 1/2 minutes (not bad at all – ‘smiley face’) … This garage … is (a) great addition to the neighborhood.” –R.C.

“It is the wave of the future … Does it work? Yes … I watched while Robotic Parking’s staff ran some of the many thousands of storage and retrieval cycles with and without vehicles.” –J.F.

“… it has been very good … Today there were 3 of us in a row retrieving cars, and everything ran smoothly …” –H.W.

After four years of operation, the City of Hoboken decided to take over garage operations, and an agreement was reached with the city. Mayor Roberts stated, “… will result in Hoboken operating the facility using Robotic’s state-of-art software in a manner that will continue to serve the best interests of the community and the customers.” He also said, “This agreement will mean that the citizens of Hoboken and garage customers will continue to have access to the most advanced garage parking system in the country.”