Transport experts and enforcement agencies have emphasised on public transport
Chennai: Increasing parking charges, making T Nagar the shopping hub of Chennai into a pedestrian zone and backing it up with better rail and Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), are ways forward for the bottlenecked part of the city. Transport experts and enforcement agencies rule out increasing parking areas in T Nagar citing it to be unsustainable. Instead they have called for emphasis on public transport.
Demand for parking spaces in Chennai CBD (central business district) which includes prime locations like T Nagar, Nungambakkam and Mylapore, is double that of the available parking space as per the second master plan.Retired professor of urban engineering in Anna university K.P. Subramanian said, “Increasing parking lots will only increase the demand for it in the years to come. Parking is a powerful tool for traffic management and should be used to solve the problems. Increasing parking fee and strict enforcement, has to be ensured. The steps have to be backed by introducing measures like AC buses to T Nagar and increasing frequency of train services.”
He added that BRTS is a much cheaper option as compared to metro and mono rail. “With an investment of 20crore per kilometer as compared to 150crore and 120crore for the rail projects, BRTS is very cost effective,” he says.
Senior traffic police officers say taxation of people entering T Nagar, and making it a pedestrian zone are some of proposals that are onboard. “Increasing parking space will not solve the problem. It will only encourage the public to use private transport which will add to the existing traffic jams,” said a senior police officer. Haphazard parking has led to loss in road space between 15 per cent and 60 per cent.
According to CMDA’s second master plan increase in road space in the city accounts to only 3 to 4 percent of the total area, while 425 vehicles are added to the roads every day.
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