[Vocabulary] parking lot versus car park

[chaoyu]

Hi, this is my first post here. :-D

Could anyone tell me what the difference, if there is any, between parking lot and car park is? A follow up question is, can car park be used to refer to those high-up building like structure with many levels, each of which was connected to another level above or below by a ramp or a driveway. I am not sure if that is called a car park or it has a different name.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Rover_KE]

BE car park = AE parking lot

BE multi-storey car park = AE parking garage

Rover

 

[SirGod]

* Not a teacher

I don't think there's a difference between them. Parking lot is more used in US English and car park in British English.

Edit: It looks like Rover_KE was faster. Sorry for the redundant information added to your thread.

 

[crazYgeeK]

BE car park = AE parking lot

BE multi-storey car park = AE parking garage

Rover

It seems that there are too many cars in America so that they use the term 'parking lot' to refer to 'car park', in my country there are many more motorbikes than cars and we have a term to refer to the parking lot for motorbikes, so I wonder if there is a term like 'motorbike park' in British and if so, what the corresponding term in American is, can it be 'parking lot'?
Thank you very much!

 

[SoothingDave]

There are fewer cars than people in America, so I don't see why you say we have "too many." ;-)

Some parking lots have a section reserved for motorcycles, but that would depend on the scarcity of the real estate, and the expected use. If no special spaces are provided, a motorcycle can just occupy a regular space.

 

[crazYgeeK]

There are fewer cars than people in America, so I don't see why you say we have "too many." ;-)

Some parking lots have a section reserved for motorcycles, but that would depend on the scarcity of the real estate, and the expected use. If no special spaces are provided, a motorcycle can just occupy a regular space.

I'm sorry, I meant there are many more cars than motorbikes in your country, in other words, there are too few motorbikes and they may not care about parking lots for motorbikes, that means whenever some one mentions 'parking lot', it means 'parking lot' for cars.
Thank you very much!

 

[SoothingDave]

A parking lot is for whatever you happen to drive, not just for cars. True, we don't have the number of motorcycles that some other places have. Then again, it was -10 C here yesterday. Not good weather for a bike.