Before leaving for work, Mr Shen, a resident of the Dicuiyuan residential compound on Daning Road subdistrict, opens an app on his phone and taps to schedule his car retrieval. Across the street, an SUV slowly rises from the depths of an underground garage. By the time he walks over a few minutes later, his car is waiting on the surface.

"From leaving my home to getting the car, it's almost a seamless transition," Shen said.

This smooth morning routine is made possible by Shanghai's first vertical shaft smart underground garage, which has recently begun operation.

This innovative garage features two underground shafts, each 23 meters in diameter and 50 meters deep. The 19-story underground structure offers 304 parking spaces, and its smart dispatch system can automatically park a car in 90 seconds.

Occupying less than 300 square meters, the garage increases parking capacity tenfold compared with a conventional lot of the same area.

Built over nearly three years, the facility supports not only on-site parking but also remote access and AGV robot valet services. During peak hours, drivers can leave their cars in a designated transfer area, schedule parking through the app, and a robot will deliver it to an intake zone. A conveyor then moves it to the ground vehicle hall, where the smart system assigns it a parking space.

The Daning Road subdistrict has many older residential compounds where parking is particularly difficult. Dicuiyuan, for example, has 1,620 vehicles but only 788 parking spaces.

"The garage's location was chosen based on parking conditions in the surrounding communities. We hope to ease the pressure of parking here," said Luo Zhimin, head of Shanghai Smart Transportation Technology Company. 

Monthly parking fees at the underground garage average 750 yuan to 800 yuan (about $100), with one free month offered for an annual contract. Hourly parking is 10 yuan.

Source: Xinmin Evening News