RITES' 3-pronged strategy to optimise parking in Chandigarh

Tribune News Service

Dushyant Singh Pundir
Chandigarh, April 8

For better utilisation of parking spaces, the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) has suggested a three-pronged strategy for the city.

In a presentation given by officials of the public sector undertaking (PSU) on the initial findings while preparing the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the tricity, it was stated that the conventional parking system was facing several challenges. The officials stated that there was no real-time tracking, data or report available for analysis, time was wasted in looking for a parking spot and there was traffic congestion due to the search for parking space, which could lead to stress to users and also increase vehicular pollution. Also, there was no flexibility in the parking charges, they said.

The PSU, however, suggested short, medium and long-term solutions to optimise and manage the parking in the city.

As a short-term solution, they suggested that private vehicles must be parked on a fully paid, rented or owned space, based on the “use pays” principle; parking spaces must be prioritised for the physically challenged, electric vehicles, bicycles, pick and ride and feeder systems; the pricing should be based on hour of the day with higher charges for peak hours and comparatively less for non-peak hours; currently wasted areas such as corners, edges and undeveloped land must be used; and the efficiency of the parking space should be maximised by classifying parking lots into long and short-term parking area, with a reflective tariff plan.

The use of personal vehicles must be discouraged by plying staff buses and staggering school and office timings to reduce the parking demand.

On medium-term solutions, the PSU recommended the implementation of app or IT solutions to manage the parking. The IT technology in parking management will assess the parking demand, provide current parking information to its users efficiently such as conveying the availability of parking lots, will reduce the time people spend searching for parking spaces and also reduce fuel consumption, congestion and pollution. It will also help in easy payment mechanism through mobile payment platforms, including e-wallets and debit and credit cards.

Due to space constraint, stack or multi-level parking may be planned without proposing new parking lots.

Talking about the long-term solutions, the officials stated the in the long run, city-wide mass public transport system needed to be provided, not only to reduce congestion on roads but also to control the parking demand.

They suggested that the parking space in each sector may be increased by using neighbourhood commercial and institutional parking lots on a rental basis, building walking and cycling infrastructure can significantly reduce the parking need in an area, large parking lots should have marked walkways that protect pedestrians from the traffic and conveniently connect to footpaths.

A proper revenue-sharing model between the UT Administration and parking contractors must be developed. A part of the revenue must be earmarked for local area improvement.

Areas with transport connectivity through adequate city bus network or services and para-transit should have effective parking pricing, limited legal parking area and strong penalty for parking violations, which may help shift to alternative modes of transportation.

The PSU was allotted the work of preparing the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the tricity on March 3. The PSU will study objectives and vision for sustainable mobility for 2041, ways to integrate the mobility plan with the land-use plan and determine the optimal mix of multi-modal public transport network.

Short-term solutions

• Private vehicles must be parked on a fully-paid, rented or owned space
• Parking spaces must be prioritised for the physically challenged, electric vehicles, bicycles, pick and ride and feeder systems
• Pricing should be based on hour of the day with higher charges for peak hours and comparatively less for non-peak hours
• Use of personal vehicles must be discouraged by plying staff buses and staggering school and office timings to reduce the parking demand

Medium-term

• Implementation of app or IT solutions to manage parking
• Due to space constraint, stack or multi-level parking may be planned without proposing new parking lots

Long-term

• Parking space in each sector may be increased by using neighbourhood commercial and institutional parking lots on a rental basis
• Building walking and cycling infrastructure can reduce parking need in the area
• A proper revenue-sharing model between the UT and contractors must be developed. A part of the revenue must be earmarked for local area improvement
• Strong penalty for parking violations, which may help shift to alternative modes of transportation

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