Autodesk Vehicle Tracking – Creating Parking Lots

The Autodesk^® Vehicle Tracking software is an extensive transportation analysis and design solution for vehicle swept path analysis, parking lot layouts, and roundabout design. In this blog, I will examine how to create and edit parking lots using various row options.

All parking layouts are created in accordance with defined rules or standards. The Parking Standard Explorer holds a number of such standards from several countries. The Parking Standard Explorer command is found in the Parking panel of the Vehicle Tracking tab, as shown above.

When the command is launched, the Parking Standard Explorer dialog box opens. All standards are grouped by nationality, and custom standards can be created as well. By right-clicking on a specific standard, you can view, edit a copy, or create a new standard.

Once you have identified which standard will be used, set this standard as default for creating parking layouts. This can be changed anytime.

Creating Rows

There are two options for creating new parking lot rows: New Row and Parallel Row. Both are found in the New Row drop-down list on the Parking panel of the ribbon, as shown below.

When launching either the New Row or the Parallel Row command, the Parking Row Properties dialog box opens, as shown below. In this dialog box, set the following:

1. Type of bay being used
2. Whether the bay is Left only, Right only, or on Both sides
3. Type of car being used
4. Flow direction of the vehicles

The Islands & Footpaths area of the Parking Row Properties dialog box determines the following, as shown below:

1. Whether footpaths are used
2. The width of the footpaths
3. Whether islands are being added

New Row

For the New Row command, begin the layout by clicking end points of the parking lot. As you draw the parking lot (as shown below), the Parking Row Properties dialog box stays open for you to add adjustments as you continue.

Parallel Row

If you want to add rows parallel to other objects, use the Parallel Row option. Launch the command and select an object in the drawing to add a parallel row to, as shown below on the left. Once the object is selected, the row will be forced to stay parallel. Click in the drawing to place the parallel row. You can select closed polylines to add parallel rows to multiple segments, as shown below on the right.

Editing Rows

There are several ways a parking row can be modified:

1. Adjust the parking standards.
2. Edit the parking row properties.
3. Edit the parking bay properties.
4. Edit the parking island properties.
5. Adjust the row using grips.
6. Join, extend, or add a vertex.

The Edit Parking Row Properties, Edit Parking Bay Properties, and Edit Parking Island Properties are all found in the Parking panel of the ribbon, as shown below. To launch the Parking Row Properties dialog box, start the command and select the parking row to update. Adjust the properties you wish to change and click to see updates.

For the Parking Bay Properties dialog box, start the command, select the row to update, and then select the bay to update. Click the ellipses (…) button next to Bay type to adjust what is seen in the drawing, as shown below.

For the Parking Island Properties dialog box, start the command, select the row to update, and then select the island to update. Adjust the options in the dialog box, as shown below, and note the changes that are made to the island.

Editing with Grips

A useful way to edit parking is by using grips. Grip editing includes the options shown below.

There are also miscellaneous editing options, including:

• Join Parking Row
• Extend Parking Row
• Add Parking Row Vertex
• Join Parking Row
• Create Access Road

Parking Report

Parking Reports are useful to tally up the number of spaces and the different type of spaces in the current layout. This makes it easier to configure different options to optimize the best layout. The reports are accessible through the Parking panel of the Vehicle Tracking tab, as shown below.

They are used to display, print, or export a report, including the following information:

• Bay type
• Vehicle class
• Service type
• Zone
• Stall count
• Percentage of stalls in a category

You can customize the parking report to adjust what is seen, as shown below.

Summary

The Autodesk Vehicle Tracking program offers a variety of tools for vehicle movement, roundabout design, and vehicle storage – in other words, parking layouts – within Civil 3D and AutoCAD. It comes with a variety of vehicle and parking standards, as well as tools to quickly create parking layouts and count the number of parking places, making it easy to compare different layouts.

I hosted a webcast on the Autodesk Vehicle Tracking program, which can be viewed here.

We also have an Autodesk Vehicle Tracking Fundamentals learning guide available in print and eBook formats, which may be of interest to you. Click here to view the Table of Contents and a sample chapter from the guide.

About the Author

Learning Content Developer<br><br>Jeff specializes in infrastructure tools such as Civil 3D and Infraworks, delivering training classes and contributing to the learning guides for these Autodesk software applications. Jeff has worked for several Autodesk resellers and has had roles of both CAD and BIM Manager with Civil and Architectural firms.

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