The concept of parking lots are known in both Switzerland and the States. There are, however, some subtle and not so subtle differences.
Numbers
I may be hallucinating here, but methinks there are a lot more empty parking spaces in America than Switzerland. A quick check in the Internet and I find that some estimate 8 parking spaces per car in the States. In Switzerland it is estimated that there are 2 per car. It looks like I was right.
Of course during certain times and in certain places, spaces can become rare even in the States. Still, go to any mall and you always have choices galore. But there is a reason for the enormous number of parking spaces. It’s not because of the owners goodwill, it’s called laws. Laws require the builders of stores and apartment complexes to provide a minimum number of spaces for customers and tenants. Depending on the building usage, laws could cause parking lots to take up more space than the buildings.
Switzerland has laws for practically everything. So of course there are lots and lots of local communities rules and regulations for parking spaces. But somehow the outcome in Switzerland is different than in the States. Probably because Switzerland is small and has to use its space more economically.
Switzerland can be very economical with parking spaces. The example of an apartment complex development in “Viererfeld”, Berne sounds more than economical to me. It sounds a little scary. The planners want part of the complex to only have enough parking spaces for every second apartment. In another section of the development they want only every third apartment to have an available parking space. Of course the planners take into account that public transportation will be readily accessible. But the question remains, what do you do when you throw a party with lots of guests? I guess the correct answer would be to only invite your neighbors.
Size
Remember all those car chases in old US TV series? Huge American made cars squealing around in parking garages going up and down the ramps. That won’t happen in Switzerland, unless you want to demolish lots and lots of cars during the chase. There is just not enough space to drive at uncontrollable speeds. Every millimeter counts. Quite often, in spite of the tires hung on the walls, you see marks where drivers miscalculated turning distances. Maybe Swiss drivers are just worse drivers than American. Naw, there can’t be that many rotten Swiss drivers. I guess that’s just the price to pay to get as many cars into as small a space as possible. Like I said, every millimeter counts.
Costs
In Switzerland all parking garages and a good majority of outside lots cost. There probably is some kind of rhyme or reason why some do and others don’t. But I haven’t figured that out yet. I think if the lot serves more than one store then it costs. It gets tricky when the lot only serves one store. Sometimes they cost, sometimes they don’t. Go figure.
Hospital parking lots always cost and usually a lot. More than one person I know joke about becoming shareholders with the money they spent at hospital parking lots. Once when we were talking to a friend and mentioned that she laughed and said “Shareholder? Ha! I own that parking lot!” Obviously a situation that many are familiar with.
On the other hand I believe that parking costs at airports in the States can be horrendous. My sister picked me up from the airport once and only once. The next time she wanted me to fly to another airport so she could pick me up at the drive through pick-up area. She said something about high prices so I didn’t ask how much it cost. The mere fact that she wanted me to fly to a different airport further away says it all.
Paying
In the States you are expected to pay at the exit barrier. Often times there is a small booth with a cashier who collects your money. They don’t do that in Switzerland. There are automatic ticket boxes usually located near the pedestrian entrance but not always. That’s where you pay and get your ticket stamped. Then you find your car and drive to the exit.
There is a multilevel parking garage In Berne. It even has a space-saving car elevator to get you to some remote levels that aren’t accessible by ramps. Ben used the car-elevator once when the only free space he found was in that area. He parked and left through a pedestrian exit. When he wanted to get to his car again, he entered through a different door than when he left. He paid at one of the terminals and set off in search of his car.
As expected he saw signs directing him to the level his car was at, which he followed. He followed sign after sign but to no avail. His mind wandered to the fairytale “Hansel and Gretel”. But he had no white pebbles in his pockets. He finally declared himself defeated and walked outside to the door he originally left by. After about a 15 to 20 minute walk and using the car-elevator, he found his car.
The only problem then was if the ticket he paid for a half an hour earlier would still be valid. Luckily it was. I guess he wasn’t the only person that had gotten lost in that parking garage. A maze would have been easier to navigate through.
Leaving the Parking Garage
The fun isn’t over after you have paid, found your car and advanced to the exit. The last step to escape is putting your stamped card into the machine to open the barrier. It usually goes without a hitch but if you do have a problem you can push the help desk button. As we found out, there isn’t always someone sitting in some remote office waiting for a call for help.
As we were pulling up to a barrier we noticed that the car in front of us was having problems. The driver was inserting his card into the slot every imaginable way, but the gate stayed down. We patiently sat watching while the man got out of his car and wildly pushed the help button. This went on for maybe 5 minutes during which time about 7 cars had collected behind us. Everything was so narrow that the car with the problem couldn’t leave and couldn’t move out of the way. We were all stuck.
There was clearly no one at the help desk. Ben got out of the car amidst a few angry drivers honking their horn and discussed something with the driver. He gave him our ticket and returned to our car. Then he moved our car forward so it was almost touching the one in front. He gave the man in front of us a signal who put our ticket into the slot. The gate opened and he drove away quickly. Before it had a chance to close we zipped out, too. Two birds with one stone. Happy end.
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