Parking has no multi-level solution

Chennai: It is a routine for H Vignesh to be spending a weekend with friends hanging out at a popular mall in Royapettah. While he chooses to ride a motorcycle to reach the mall, he does not utilise the parking facility offered by them because he cannot afford to pay the quoted parking charges, which can be as high as '50 per hour. As such, he opts to leave his ride in a nearby street where, of course, it is free.

But it is the absence of an on-street parking management system that allows Vignesh to get away with something in this city which, in most other places around the world, would have made him pay a fee or penalty depending on whether his parking ‘act’ was legal or illegal.

The story, in so far as it concerns Chennai, is one of accommodating the many private vehicles roaming its streets. Amid concerns of shrinking public space, the city corporation is proposing to alleviate some of the misery by promulgating the construction of multi level car park lots (MLCP).

Though senior corporation officials insist that MLCPs are never a solution to the crisis, “MLCPs can address a localised problem,” as one official put it, the fact is that more of these structures continue to be proposed, as is evident from the plans for T Nagar Smart City drawn up by the local body.

“Even with the MLCP, unless tariffs are raised, it will not be a sustainable model. But, if parking on streets are free, then ML CP will fail in its purpose,” an official said. Unorganised parking is what contributes most to the city’s parking crisis. Experts are of the opinion that parking is not seen as a commodity.

“Providing parking space is not the responsibility of the Corporation because a car is a private good. Parking is a commodity, it should be priced based on the demand for it as we have limited road space,” opines C. Ranga Rohini of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).

But why do Chennaiites resort to private transport? “Shortage in public transportation,” says a senior CMDA official. “Because the public transport network and its connectivity is so poor that people resort to borrowing money to buy cars,” the official noted.

Though these are the visible issues, headway with respect to regulation of on-street parking is not close. When queried on what their vision for an on-street management system is, a senior Corporation official said that it would be one which is both “affordable” yet, somehow, discourage people from using their vehicles.

However, such a vision should include features like dynamic pricing, which the corporation is considering, but are not sure of it materialising. “There could be two approaches. An area-based approach as we have come to see in Mumbai and a time-based approach where charges vary during peak and non-peak hours,” said an official.

Haphazard parking management also affects the six percent commuter population who cycle to work/school daily. “What of the school children? Because the traffic safety for cyclists are poor, parents resort to dropping the child off at schools and more vehicles are added to our streets,” said Aswathy Dilip of ITDP.

But, enforcement of parking norms is another big issue. Though top city traffic cops deny it, corporation sources reaffirm that shortage of personnel is one of the top reasons cited by the department during combined meetings, with the ratio being one cop for over 2000 private and commercial vehicles.

“People’s psychology matters here too. It comes down to making people understand that parking space is not a necessary civic infrastructure. Storm Water drains, proper roads, electric poles, water supply lines are necessary, not parking space,” a CMDA official said.

“Norms like heavily taxing a second car that a family purchases to ensuring that alternate transportation modes are safe and dignified can help reduce this crisis,” the official added.

Chennai to get smart so you can park right

The Chennai Corporation is exploring the feasibility of a smart parking solution to tackle the city’s parking crisis with consultants Jones Lang Lasalle working on a report. Aiming to deploy the latest technology, the system is expected to better the results achieved with the current partnership with Tamil Nadu Ex Servicemen’s Corporation Limited (TEXCO), Corporation sources said.

TEXCO, to whom the corporation has entrusted the responsibility of managing 93 parking spots in the city, is struggling with lack of personnel. A senior TEXCO official told DC that they did not have the staff to manage 20 slots out of the total given to them. “We have around 70 people working in parking lot management,” said the official.

Earlier in 2014, it was reported that the city traffic police had identified 341 spots to be developed as parking zones. When JLL presents its recommendations, the Corporation will move to outsource the on-site monitoring of the smart parking system, as a way to counter the staff shortage crisis that is also hampering the city traffic police.

“There will be marshals in the field helping the traffic police with enforcement. They may help clamp the wheels of violating cars but levying penalties or enforcing action will rest with the traffic police,” an official explained.

“The traffic marshals will help with enforcement as they can scan the plates of a car to find out whether or not it is occupying the spot legally. If a vehicle is found to have exceeded its time limit, penalty can be imposed,” explained Balchand Parayath, coordinator with Chennai City Connect, one of the agencies working with the Corporation to implement the system.

To prevent it from going the same way as TEXCO, corporation officials insist that a set of key performance indicators will be monitored. “If we are not satisfied with the performance, then the contract can be nullified,” added an official.

Ranga Rohini of ITDP feels that the system can work as people are receptive to technology. However, as a means to reduce congestion, she also suggested that Chennai could follow the Ahmedabad way by encouraging high density development by increasing floor space index (FSI) quotient.

“At least, along the Metro Rail corridor and other mass transit networks, such a proposal, along with a cap on parking requirements, would help,” she said. A CMDA official said that while there are no planning restrictions on individual houses, parking management measures can be extended to commercial buildings.

“Rather than demanding that parking be a part of planning, if the area is sufficiently serviced by mass transit services like T Nagar for instance, then it can be exempted,” the official said.