# Why do some multi-level parking structures make you drive up a few floors before letting you go back down? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475 "2026-05-29T15:48:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/1 "2026-05-29T15:48:53Z")
I have noticed this many times and it happened again last night. I parked on the third floor and the way the parking structure was built I had to drive up to the sixth floor in order to be able to go all the way back down to the exit. Why? My supposition is the cross over between the up and down ramp takes up a few potential parking spaces. But only a few. These are big lots and almost never, ever full. Does it really matter if they can say they have (say) 12 more spaces out of hundreds? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/2 "2026-05-29T16:05:17Z")
I’ve lived in or near a big city for most of my life and have never encountered what you have described. I’m interested in hearing home common this is in the US, assuming that’s where you live. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/3 "2026-05-29T16:05:46Z")
To handle the case where everyone is leaving at the same time (e.g. after an event). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/4 "2026-05-29T16:19:53Z")
Interesting. I had not thought of that. I’m a bit unclear on how making everyone go up before down helps that though but I can maybe kinda-sorta see it? (IANAGarage engineer) ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/5 "2026-05-29T16:25:12Z")
If everyone leaves at the same time, there will be a bottleneck somewhere: the parking garage egress, the first stoplight, a traffic officer, etc. Making everyone go up, then down creates an artificially long queue to “store” all the cars. It is the same idea as the roped-off queue at the airport security line. It stores all of the people while they go through security. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/6 "2026-05-29T16:26:16Z")
One of the parking garages where I work was designed for high volume/high turnover (it’s a hospital parking garage intended for patients and visitors, not employees) and the traffic flow is helical up and helical down. In other words the up ramps go to odd numbered levels and the down ramps go to even numbered levels. Because of the high volume, all ramps are one-way and you have to go all the way to the roof to get back down. This is to prevent cars going in opposite directions when people are pulling out. It’s a function of volume - similar to what **CaveMike** said. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/7 "2026-05-29T16:33:18Z")
Page 11 of this document has some nice diagrams of the different types of multi-level parking garage ramps and flows: > **[SWEEP\_EN.pdf](https://dms.sw-umwelttechnik.at/storage/3734/SWEEP_EN.pdf)** > > 799.10 KB ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/8 "2026-05-29T16:38:45Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > This is to prevent cars going in opposite directions when people are pulling out. I think this is a big consideration. If a garage is busy, there would be more delays with bi-directional traffic and more for drivers to look out for. Some other considerations: Uni-directional traffic also allows slanted parking spots while bi-directional traffic allows smaller lanes because they can be shared (I expect). ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/9 "2026-05-29T16:44:49Z")
Thanks. I’ve always wondered what the set of ramp patterns are and page #11 makes it pretty clear. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/10 "2026-05-29T17:57:49Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > Some other considerations: Uni-directional traffic also allows slanted parking spots Except that slanted parking spots almost always slant the wrong direction, so you’d have to make an acute turn to back into them. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/11 "2026-05-29T18:09:35Z")
Page 4 of that PDF has a photo of the type of garage that seems to be the standard today, in which the cars are parked on either side of the ramp, rather than having separate ramps as in older parking garages. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/12 "2026-05-29T18:14:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Except that slanted parking spots almost always slant the wrong direction, so you’d have to make an acute turn to back into them. Not sure I am following. The slants go with the unidirectional traffic flow whether the ramp is up or down. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/13 "2026-05-29T18:41:48Z")
I wasn’t talking about ramps, but about tilted parking spots in general. They always go / / / / / / / / ------------\> \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ instead of \ \ \ \ \ \ \ -------------\> / / / / / / / / So that if you try to pull out of them forward, the sensible way, you have to make a sharp turn instead of a gradual one. They only work for people who park the wrong way, so they’re backing out instead of going out forward. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/14 "2026-05-29T18:54:05Z")
If the parking slots are slanted, the expectation is that people park in them nose first. If you are backing into these spots, you’re doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/15 "2026-05-29T19:00:18Z")
Never mind. Brain cloudy. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/16 "2026-05-29T19:02:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > If the parking slots are slanted, the expectation is that people park in them nose first. If you are backing into these spots, you’re doing it wrong. There is always that one guy/gal. We’ve all seen them. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/17 "2026-05-29T19:04:29Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/18 "2026-05-29T19:11:00Z")
It’s the Shadow of Emily Litella! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2026, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/19 "2026-05-30T06:09:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > They only work for people who park the wrong way, so they’re backing out instead of going out forward. Indeed. There may be an element of human nature here. People get annoying by someone backing into a spot when they themselves are hunting for a spot. But less so when everyone is just working their way out the park. Another possibility might be the likelihood of incompetent drivers dinging other cars. It would not surprise me to find that the wrong way around results in fewer actual dings. Not because it is the right way, but because a lot of drivers can’t manage the right way. I park in one car park that explicitly states that some spots are only to be use nose first. I often ignore this, but I only park there out of hours. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2026, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475/20 "2026-05-30T06:35:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So that if you try to pull out of them forward, the sensible way, you have to make a sharp turn instead of a gradual one. They only work for people who park the wrong way, so they’re backing out instead of going out forward. There’s no objective “wrong way”, and nose-in vs tail-in parking has been the subject of endless debate in other threads. But what can objectively be said is that when a parking garage has angled parking spots with one-way lanes, the “right way” to park is the way the designers intended, and in your first illustration that would be nose-in. In fact, in such garages there’s often a sign mandating nose-in parking, which makes it easy to pull in, and easy to back out and position your car in the travel lane. It’s the obstinate drivers who insist on doing it “the right way” who create chaos for themselves and others. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-multi-level-parking-structures-make-you-drive-up-a-few-floors-before-letting-you-go-back-down/1030475.md?page=2)