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London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

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Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#151

Post by IshKebab »

kkotak wrote: post #68
IshKebab wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything is within walking distance if you're willing to walk... Anyway here's where it is: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YZKPXp7LSjc5jPot5 Turn on satellite view and you can see it is on the edge of the long stay parking. I dunno if you're realistically going to save a lot of time unless your parking space is right at the back of the long stay car park. Worth it if it's free! I assume it's overpriced though.

From the map. It looks like the train is closer to the terminal :)

Yes if you can get a train into a UK airport that's definitely the way, but even in the train-friendly UK that's often not feasible. For example Bristol airport has no railway. Heathrow is very inaccessible by train from the west. So there are unfortunately still plenty of reasons to drive to UK airports.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#152

Post by aequitas »

juleiie wrote: post #137
myegorov wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fun fact: you can get to/from Schiphol by bike.

Unless the bike has electric engine and cargo compartment it’s not super viable id say to move all that luggage

Maybe that’s why the “elektrische bakfiets” (electrified cargo bike) is really popular here in the Netherlands. I’ve got one and don’t even live anywhere near an airport, closest one is at least an hour by car.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#153

Post by masklinn »

juleiie wrote: post #137
myegorov wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fun fact: you can get to/from Schiphol by bike.

Unless the bike has electric engine and cargo compartment it’s not super viable id say to move all that luggage

Depends how much luggage exactly, but bakfiets and cargo trailers can be pretty roomy. Ebike is always helpful.

And that's before you get into tricycles.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#154

Post by jen20 »

myself248 wrote: post #111
dybber wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is parking with the windows open a normal thing to do in the UK?

In a garage?

In a garage or not, it's not a normal thing to do in the UK.

It's also not a _normal_ thing to do in the US, though I have heard some people do it in higher-crime cities to avoid the windows being broken.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#155

Post by Atlas667 »

fdsdffds wrote: post #140
pkulak wrote: post #72

I guess we can add this to the ever-growing list of extremely expensive, complicated, inefficient and convoluted solutions to problems that end with the final specification: "but it can't be a train".

Yes, let's depend on a train for my time-sensitive journey with lots of awkward luggage. Do you people even ride trains? Are you OK with the 50/50 odds of gettings home on time?

Took the south Florida brightline 3 times, recently, to get to the airport (+2 times for leisure travel) and it was pretty good.

Get there by rideshare in 20 mins, trains on time, 1hr to city, 10 min shuttle to airport. On time every time.

I moved my luggage by hand more WITHIN the airport than getting to the airport.

Would do it again

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#156

Post by scld »

dyauspitr wrote: post #100
rpadovani wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My company pays for taxi from my door to the airport and I still take the train, unless I am leaving before dawn. There is both a rational environment choice in that, and a nice feeling of being part of a humming crowd

I drive an EV powered by my own solar panels. I’ve done my part and frankly don’t much like public transport unless I’m specifically looking to be in the hubbub which is mostly on the weekends when I’m socializing.

....what part have you done???

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#157

Post by joe463369 »

pkulak wrote: post #72

I guess we can add this to the ever-growing list of extremely expensive, complicated, inefficient and convoluted solutions to problems that end with the final specification: "but it can't be a train".

But there is a train to Gatwick.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#158

Post by clort »

grogenaut wrote: post #144
myself248 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, it leaves the car locked the whole time, no valet having your keys, no valet adjusting your seats, etc. Some of us avoid valet for some of these reasons. If this thing could pick up my car from curbside at arrivals dropoff like a valet, but handle it robotically so there's no valet downside, it would be amazing.

on the other other hand it randomly pressure points the bottom of your car on points that weren't really meant for it. agree that this would be way better if you just drove up in a queue and cars were taken away. one imagines the slow moving conveyors at amusement parks to get people closer to the ride's speed, tho given how long people take to park, get, take off the seat belt, find park, shut off the car, check the…

it picks it up by the tyres, so no random pressure points

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#159

Post by ifwinterco »

SoftTalker wrote: post #55
mschuster91 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a car catches fire That's a solved problem, drench the car in copious amounts of water and flush all oxygen with high pressure CO2 tanks.

BEV thermal runaway fires are certainly not a solved problem. I'm not sure they are as common as some critics suggest, but they are difficult when they happen.

Even without BEVs a fire in a car park can easily result in the whole thing burning to the ground if you're not careful. It happened at Luton a few years ago, and I think in the end they worked out it was a diesel that started it.

You're right though, if every car is a BEV of unknown battery health left for a week+ packed bumper to bumper in a baking hot car park in the middle of summer, that would definitely be considerably worse

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#160

Post by atmosx »

pontus wrote: post #14

So I'll have to park my car in a garage first, then take a bus to the terminal just so that a robot can move my car from the place where I parked it to a different place? I was hoping it'd be something where I'd pull up to the curb, grab my bags and head in while the robot parked the car for me but apparently I'll still have to take a bus to the terminal?

Well that’s the design / usability / real needs part. Which is what these projects often miss. I see often tech replacing parts of a workflow but in reality the process / flow remains the same. Now some parts are digital and we call this “progress”. Strictly speaking it’s digitization but not progress.
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