INTRODUCTION

Traffic congestion caused by vehicle is an alarming problem at a global scale and it has been
growing exponentially. Car parking problem is a major contributor and has been, still a major
problem with increasing vehicle size in the luxurious segment and confined parking spaces in
urban cities. Searching for a vacant parking space in tourist area is the concern for most drivers,
and it is time-consuming. It commonly results more traffic congestion and air pollution by
constantly cruising in certain area only for an available parking space.
To alleviate such traffic congestion and improve the convenience for drivers, many smart
parking systems aiming to satisfy the involved parties (e.g., parking service providers and
drivers) have been deployed. It is, therefore, strongly desired to provide an effective strategy to
address these concerns.
Smart Parking systems typically obtains information about available parking spaces and process
to place vehicles at available positions .It involves using low-cost sensors, automated payment
systems that allow people to park their . When deployed as a system, smart parking thus
reduces car emissions in urban centers by reducing the need for people to needlessly circle city
blocks searching for parking.

ABOUT DHARAMSHALA
Dharamshala is administrative headquarters of Kangra district in the state of Himachal Pradesh
and is located 18 km North-East of Kangra. It is also the winter capital of the state of Himachal
Pradesh. Located at the foothills of the Dhauladhar Range, the town is very popular among
national and international tourists alike for its natural scenic beauty, meditation centers and rich
art and cultural heritage. The town is a significant pilgrimage center for the Buddhist people
with the town of McLeodGanj being the seat of His Holiness Dalai Lama. The British founded
the town as a subsidiary cantonment for troops in the year of 1849 and earmarked it as the
summer capital before Shimla (Figure 1). The Municipality was established in the year of 1867.
However, the earthquake in 1905 completely ruined the settlement and about 20,000 lives were
lost. In the aftermath of the disaster, the British moved to Shimla and the remaining residents
were asked to shift to the lower areas that only had certain institutional facilities till then. The
upper areas were never reoccupied and the sleepy town only revived once His Holiness Dalai
Lama and the Tibetan government in exile resided in McLeodganj, 1959 onwards1. The Tibetan
central administration runs its parliament and home affairs from here. Dharamshala is also
popularly called Little Lhasa .

CITY MORPHOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT PATTERN

City morphology and development pattern geographically the town is positioned 23o 13 North
latitude and 76 19 East longitudes. Dharamshala is divided into two distinct regions lower
(1380 m) and upper regions (1700 m) with a majority of population living in the former. Most of
the institutional and public/semi-public uses are also concentrated in the lower region of the
city. The upper areas i.e. Mcleodganj, Dharamkot, Naddi, etc. are flocked with tourists,
spiritualists, adventure seekers, etc. and are primarily the hub of commercial and tourism
activities. Located in the Kangra valley and the Dhauladhar range, terrain and accessibility
governs the urban setting of the city. The city has primarily come up along its main road
corridors with a decentralized built fabric interspersed between forest reserves. While in upper
Dharamshala, the growth is more compact and dense; the lower Dharamshala area is more
spread out. The city lies on Earthquake Zone 4 and is highly prone to disasters. However, almost
75% of the construction/development is unregulated and has taken place on steep and unstable
slopes.

ECONOMY
Dharamshala was visited by approximately 15 lakhs tourists in 2014 catered by more than 170
registered hotels8 . In addition to this, there is a large share of informal sector in the hospitality
sector of the city. These primarily include Home-stays, Bread & Breakfast Inns and small hotels.
Though the economy of the town is mainly dependent of the tourism & allied activities, the
commercial districts in the upper and lower regions have very different and distinctive nature.
While the areas in the lower areas are more functional to the locals, the commercial
establishments in the upper areas especially in McLeodganj cater to the tourists. Presence of
hotels, homestays, souvenir shops, cafes, restaurants and street vendors is characteristic to upper
Dharamshala.

CONNECTIVITY AND MOBILITY

Being a popular tourist city, it is well connected to other major cities through road, rail as well
as by air. A domestic airport at Gaggal serves Dharamshala, which is about 12 km from the city.
The nearest broad gauge railway head is the Pathankot Railway station, around 85km from
Dharamshala. The region is also served with a Patahnkot - Joginder Nagar narrow gauge
railway line. The nearest railway station on narrow gauge is Kangra, which is around 17 Kms
from Dharamshala. Dharamshala is also well connected with bus network. Private and State
Road transport Buses connect the city. A bus stand in lower Dharamshala and McLeodganj
directly connect Dharamshala with Delhi and nearby important cities like Shimla. NH 503 from

Kangra and S H 17 from Palampur provide road connectivity to Dharamshala. The city is laid
on both sides of MDR 44. The city has three major traffic nodes at Kotwali Bazaar in the lower
Dharamshala (commercial and institutional area), McLeodganj chowk and Bhagsunag chowk.
The city is primarily served by the following hierarchies of roads 10: - NH/ SH / MDR: 10-12 m
Right of Way (Row) / 7-8 m Carriage Way (CW) MDR / MC roads: 7-10 m Row/ 4.5-5 m CW Village roads/ MC roads: 5-4 m Row/ 3-4 m CW Due to limited roads and difficulty of terrain,
there is restricted space for all road users. The typical road cross section (RoW) in the city has an
undivided carriageway, lined with drainage on both the sides, ending with property line or
building line. Footpaths or space of other roadside amenities is mostly absent in the city. The
only road that has been pedestrianized in the city is the Temple road leading to the temple of
His Holiness.

NEED AND BENEFITS ANALYSIS OF SMART PARKING

Smart Parking would enable the following

Accurately predict and sense spot/vehicle occupancy in real-time.

Optimize Parking Space Usage
Simplifies the parking experience and adds value for parking stakeholders, such as

drivers and merchants

Help traffic in the city flow more freely leveraging IoT technology.
Enables intelligent decisions using data, including realtime status applications and

historical analytics reports

Smart Parking plays a major role in creating better urban environment by reducing the

emission of CO2 and other pollutants

Smart Parking enables better and real time monitoring and managing of available

parking space resulting in significant revenue generation

Provides tools to optimize workforce management

TYPES OF SMART PARKING

Types of automated MLCPs Technologies used for automated parking systems are of following
types:
1. Puzzle type
2. Tower or Elevator type
3. Multi floor type
4. Rotary type

PUZZLE TYPE AUTOMATED PARKING

This system has more than two levels of parking. Its design has a structure that enables use of
all parking entrances and exits on ground level. The parking pal lets move left, right, upward
and downward and always has one empty slot for movement.
Advantages

Operation is simple, no need for parking attendant

Fast retrieval time, generally 2 min.
Extremely safe and reliable with safety and option of automated gates.

Figure 1 Image Showing Puzzle type parking

TOWER OR ELEVATOR TYPE AUTOMATED PARKING

Advantages

Minimal land use. An area of 25 x 22 can park up to 72 vehicles.

Low noise and vibration
Entry and exit is very quick and convenient
Completely equipped with multiple sensors and triple safety devices
Has the capability of holding cue memory when multiple patrons come to retrieve their
vehicles during rush hours.

Figure 2 Elevator or tower type automated parking

MULTI FLOOR TYPE AUTOMATED PARKING

Advantages

Because each elevator and cart is operated independently on each level, entry and exit is

quick.
Retrieval time of a vehicle is less than two minutes
Low noise and vibration. Entry and exit is very quick and convenient. We incorporate a

built in turntable on each elevator.

A self-malfunction diagnostic control provides an excellent level of safety and reliability.
Has the capability of holding cue memory when multiple patrons come to retrieve their
vehicles during rush hours.

Figure 3 Multi floor automated parking

ROTARY TYPE AUTOMATED PARKING

Advantages

Up to 12 vehicles can be accommodated within the space normally taken up by two

vehicles.
It is not applicable by the regulations of building coverage.
There is no need for an attendant because of its simple one-touch operation method.
Senses where vehicle is closer and rotates bi-directionally for fast retrieval time.
Extremely safe and reliable.
Impossible for vehicles to fall with endless chain and pallet drop prevention system.

Figure 4 Rotary type automated parking

COMPARISON MATRIX
SL
NO.
1

CRITERIA
SPACE

PUZZLE

ELEVATOR

MULTI

ROTARY

GOOD

TYPE
BEST

FLOOR
GOOD

BEST

MEDIUM

VERY HIGH

VERY

MEDIUM
HIGH
SIMPLE

OPTIMIZATION
CAPITAL

3
4

INVESTMENT
O& M EXPENSES
EASE OF

LOW
SIMPLE

HIGH
COMPLEX

HIGH
HIGH
COMPLEX

INSTALLATION
CONSTRUCTION

LOW

HIGH

HIGH

LOW

TIME
RETRIEVAL TIME

MEDIUM

HIGH

VERY

LOW

SIMPLE
LOW
NOT THERE

HIGH
COMPLEX
HIGH
NOT

SIMPLE
LOW
AVAILABLE

LOW

THERE
HIGH

LOW

7
8
9
10

TECHNOLOGY
NOISE
MANUAL OVERRIDE
RELIABILITY

SIMPLE
MEDIUM
AVAILABLE
MEDIUM

11
12
13

SECURITY
LIFE CYCLE

SECURED

LESS

HIGHLY

SECURED

15-20 YEARS

SECURE
10-15 YEARS

SECURED
15-20

10-15 YEARS
3- 4% OF

MAINTENANCE

2- 3% OF

3-4% OF

YEARS
2- 3% OF

COST

CAPITAL

CAPITAL

CAPITAL

CAPITAL

COST

COST

COST

COST

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION OF PROPOSED PARKING

LOCATION
Near Kotwali Bazar Taxi Stand Parking Area.

SPECIFICATION
This will be an Electromechanical over ground Car Parking system with allowable car size:
length - 5000 mm X width 2000 mm, Height 1660 mm at all levels except ground level. Ground
Level shall be reserved for SUV Cars up to a height of 2000 mm. All safety devices shall be
incorporated like, Emergency stop, Front photo sensor, Cam Limit switch, Limit Switch, Geared
motor with Brakes, PLC based control, with touch screen operating panel. Pallet/platform shall
be of corrugated GI Sheet of 1.6 mm thickness.
The proposed system shall be read as Automated Multilevel Car parking (also includes
Multilevel Mechanized Puzzle Car Parking System) of maximum 5 level with required drivers
room etc.
This will be a turnkey work for design, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of an
Automated Multilevel Car Parking at Kotwali Bazar, Dharamshala. The basic description of the
MULTI-LEVEL CAR PARKING is as under: Automated Multilevel Car Park, capacity required
minimum 100 cars with all civil works and allied infrastructures.

CIVIL WORKS, DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION ETC.

The tentative drawing given is for general guidance. The Contractor after visiting the site shall
make an assessment of any changes required within the permissible limits regarding the
location of terminal and alignment and incorporate the same in his Bid with detailed
justification.
CLIMATIC FEATURES

For the design structures, a temperature variation of approx. 23 deg. Celsius (from (+) 32 deg. C
to (+) 0 deg. C) has to be considered.
HUMIDITY
Variation in humidity level from 30% to 95% has to be considered for the system design.
WIND PRESSURE
Wind pressure shall be as per the relevant Indian Standard i.e. installation should not be in
operation at 150-km.hr-wind speed.
SEISMIC FACTORS
The MULTI-LEVEL CAR PARKING is located in Zones V as per IS 1893, 1984. Hence all the
structure shall be designed as per the provisions of the IS Codes as applicable for Zone V taking
into account the seismic coefficient and importance factors which should be at least 1.5.
However during actual designing, importance factors higher than 1.5 can also be considered.