IDS,

Were you able to scan and post the BBMP parking policy?

Thanks,

Vinay.

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It will help to identify an area and pilot it there. As discussed Koramangala is a good microcosm of overall Bangalore with commercial+residential mixed use. 

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If you can avoid cash transactions at the parking lot, you can control leakage as well as get monitoring done (using the device that you'd use for payment transaction).

Some wild thoughts:

• RTO has been issuing RC books as smart cards (so I read, haven't seen one myself). Can these be upgraded to have proximity cards? Park near a sensing meter, and you record a transaction. Pay aggregated parking fees every month or quarter at RTO / Bangalore One or BBMP website?
• Driver's Cell phone as the payment device? A data base linking Vehicle to cell phone would be a nice "side-benefit". Attendants or machines can just record car license numbers at random. If the number is not found to have a cell phone payment transaction on the same day, you can fine people.

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I suppose the RTO can issue some sort of card which can be used - but that would exclude people who are not from Bangalore. The Cell phone idea is a good one as I'm sure a lot more people have cell phones than credit cards.

As far as enforcement is concerned - I think the best thing is to privatize this. One can require the private enforcer to take a digital photograph of the violation which shows clearly the licence plate and the violation. This would prevent unjustified fining. The whole process - including collection of the fee  can be outsourced. In any case nowadays one can pay traffic fines online quite easily.

Ramesh

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Levying of hefty road tax, introduction of congestion charge and putting high premium on parking are some of the measures the Centre for Science and Environment has suggested to Delhi Government to check growth of private vehicles and overcome the traffic mess in the city.

In a letter to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, CSE citing examples of various cities including London, Stockholm and Tokyo, said experience from across the world showed that parking controls, parking pricing along with taxes top the list as first generation car restraint measures.

"For instance, Stockholm expects to generate equivalent to Rs 366 crore from congestion charges annually from this year that will be used for transit development," the CSE said also analysing the situation in major Indian cities.

Noting that Delhi must tap the revenue streams from "congestion charges and restraint taxes", the prominent environmental NGO said cars cannot continue to enjoy direct and hidden subsidy and privileges on roads.

"With congestion tax and good public transport, central London has reduced traffic volume by 25 per cent, congestion by 30 per cent. Singapore with ownership restrictions has kept the annual car growth rate well within 3 per cent as opposed to more than 10 per cent in Delhi," the CSE said.

"Indian cities including Delhi have begun to prepare parking policy but this must include parking controls and pricing to dampen car usage," it said.

For the full report in the Economic Times, click here
 

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Great idea silkboard.

Prepaid RFID tags could also be used. Many IT companies already use RFID tags to allow access to  parking lots. RFID cards are hung to the rear view mirrors and readers can easily read them from a couple of meters.

RFID readers are also pretty cheap. With RFID readers installed at each parking spot, we might not even need attenders. 

A fraction of the revenues generated from the parking lots will easily run the system. RFID cards could be sold like phone recharge cards. Lower parking fees could be given to ppl with RFID cards to encourage ppl to use them.

Over time use of such a system should be made compulsory.

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Was reading BBMP parking policy which says Brigade road & commercial street must be closed for traffic between 10AM & 8PM. I cant find the policy on the net, search always leads to the DULT one. Will try to scan & post here over the weekend.

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Was reading BBMP parking policy which says Brigade road & commercial street must be closed for traffic between 10AM & 8PM.

That would be sweet. Converting the closed area, even if temporarily, to a well-used public space would increase the impact and visibility of a move like that (such as what was attempted at Times Square, NYC).

Another possible way to make pedestrianization more palatable could be to introduce it in stages.

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 I am in Chandigarh at the moment and it is a revelation what a little bit of planning can do in the long run.I think this is the only city in India where one can walk safely on the footpaths and bike relatively safely on the streets. In fact they also have numerous bike paths. 

The fundamental reason why the streets are better and safer is that the sectors have limited access to the main arterial roads. The sectors are walled off from the roads so there are no shops and houses leading on to the roads. This allows them to make proper footpaths and bike lanes along the side of the roads as one does not have to worry about driveways and various other things like electricity boxes, airtel boxes etc. Futher, no construction material ends up on these things.

The other great advantage is that within the sector it is very quiet and calm. So while here a certain amount of the footpaths are encroached - this is still India, after all - the streets are calm enough to walk on.

Finally, they have numerous pedestrian zones which are really pleasurable to walk around. It very relaxing to be able to walk long distances without having to worry about ones life or limbs. 

What is the relevance of this to Bangalore - well, for one newer neighborhoods could be planned along these lines - I dont understand that while one has had this model for 50 years it hasnt been implemented in the rest of India. Even existing neighborhoods could be greatly improved by limiting access to the arterial roads. For example, in Malleswaram, the access to major roads such as Sampige and Margosa could be restricted to a few of the cross roads. This would have the effect of calming the interior part of the neighborhood. 

Another important thing here is that within the sectors there are row houses - namely houses share walls with their neighbors. In Bangalore there is this 4 ft rule which is completely useless as what ends up happening is that people build their staircases outside  withing 4ft of the compound wall and really leave no space for light and air in between houses. Here, they have space in the front and back and since they share a wall there is a lot more common public space in the neighborhood. 

Bangalore could have been a really wonderful city had they followed the example of Chandigarh in planning new areas 50 years ago. Its really a mystery why the people in control permitted the haphazard growth that goes on even today. Chandigarh is a wonderful example of what can be achieved with a little bit of thought and planning. 

Ramesh 

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 No, too many pages, and the one I have at home is a page by page scanner. I will get it done outside next week.

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BBMP has no money unless they raise property taxes to a level where it becomes impossible for us to live. Here are people waiting to put money. But Paid Parking policy is put on hold because a particular party feels warm in its pants sticking to a unreasonable stand.

We want to invest in roads across the country, oil & gas pipelines, transmission & distribution, ports, schools & hospitals and urban infrastructure if there are opportunities. But there is no port looking for an investment, no gas pipeline, no parking lots

I am told parking fees on Brigade road is sufficient to maintain the street many times over. 

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 Beijing, Fighting Traffic, Considers Car Limits

So maybe we will not learn and wait till it hits us in the face by when it may just be too late.

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there was a plan to impose Rs 50 parking fee per month on all those who use the Corporation built road for parking in front of their houses... there was also a thinking that, those who own more than one car, will have to prove that they have parking facility at their house, failing which the additional cars will not be permitted to be registered

Source

Very good plan, should be supported. I would be very interested in the details of it, especially how they plan to do this without a permit system. How they take care of visitor parking on the street & the enforcement aspect. Who are the transportation experts they have asked about this, how much study of such systems worldwide they have done & the notes regarding the same. Knowing the BBMP they will never detail it enough to be effective. It will have loop holes the size of Bangalore potholes. 

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