Suggestions on Draft Parking Policy in Delhi

Preamble: On the street people think …… all Such Policies are made MORE FOR REVENUE GENERATION for the Government …….. THAN TO OFFER ANY SOLUTION to the Problem created in the first place due to GOVERNMENT APATHY AND NON IMPLEMENTATION of dully laid out Rules and Laws…….

…….. Please look at previous attempts at giving Parking Solutions …… Charging ONE TIME PARKING CESS and collection of CONVERSION CHARGES UNDER MPD-2021 ……… Millions of Rupees have been collected without any accountability and no corresponding Parking Infrastructure developed in the past Decade.Dear Sir,
This has reference to the Advertisement published on 12th July 2017 in various News Papers on the above subject. Following are my suggestions …….
PREPARE A THREE YEAR PARKING ROAD MAP (Short, Medium and Long Term), with clear deadlines with the help of Data Collected and Additional Surveys:-

SHORT TERM:-
DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN DYNAMIC AND DEAD PARKING – discourage people who use cars for Home-Office-Home travel, turning scarce Parking Space unproductive (Dead) for 8-14 hours. Shoppers and Visitors to offices for meetings etc occupy Parking Space (Dynamic) for a limited period of time and the same space is utilised multiple times, giving a fillip to Business. DEAD PARKING should be discouraged and made prohibitive ….. DYNAMIC PARKING Rates should be of 15 Minute Pulse, to encourage people to conclude business promptly and save money.
PARKING FEE BASED ON SIZE OF CAR – To encourage use of small cars Parking Fee should be charged based on length of car, as one BMW occupies twice as much space as an I10.

INTRODUCE POINT TO POINT AC CHARTERED/SHUTTLE BUSSES – Care should be taken that Office goers are not inconvenienced and transport BEFITTING THEIR STATURE be made available at reasonable rates. People use Personal Transport out of compulsion due to lack of COMFORTABLE, SAFE & SURE TRANSPORT.
STOP FLEECING BY AUTO/ TAXIS AND SURGE PRICING BY UBER / OLA: Autos have been notorious for Refusals and Overcharging. Now Uber and Ola are also fleecing hapless commuters, charging 1.5X to 3.9X SURGE PRICING. If citizens can be fined Rs. 2000/- then Service providers should also be penalised for Malpractice.INTRODUCE UNIFORM PRICING.
ENFORCE LANE DISCIPLINE – Traffic Police should be instructed to enforce Lane Discipline and man Traffic Lights instead of hiding behind Trees to net offenders and pocket bribes.
REMOVE BOTTLE NECKS ON ROADS – Potholes; Encroachments/Vendors; Parking on Roads; Religious Places; Trees; Defunct Electricity Poles etc. create congestion and slows the traffic.

MEDIUM TERM:-
CREATE HALTING ZONES FOR AUTOS, GRAMIN SEVAS, TAXIS ETC – Traffic Jams are often noticed near Bus Stops/Metro Stations, Traffic Signals, Market/Hospital Entrances, Street Corners etc as these modes of transport bunch up at such spots usurping one or more lanes.
IMPROVE LAST MILE CONNECTIVITY – This proposal has been in the Pipeline for so long that it seems like a Pipedream, surely it is not as difficult as it seems.
PUT THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE – Multiple modes of Public Transport adhering to a strict timetable be introduced in consultation with experts.

CREATE SUBWAYS AND PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS – Lack of pedestrian facilities make the roads dangerous and are the cause for traffic snarls, when people give up private transport there will be manifold increase in Pedestrian Traffic, so this aspect MUST GET PRIORITY.

INSTALL NUMBER PLATE READING CCTVS – E-Chalaan traffic offenders and Trucks who enter the city before Entry Hours (which is Rampant)

LONG TERM:-
IMPROVE ROAD ENGINEERING AND POSITIONING OF BUS STOPS – Go anywhere in Delhi, most traffic jams occur at the start and end of a Flyover, due to merging traffic and positioning of Bus stops close to the Flyover.

EXPEDITE COURT CASES FOR ROAD WIDENING – Ring Road at Nariana is a good example of what can be achieved by acquiring land for road widening …… there are many such points all over Delhi that are stuck in Court Cases.

BAN PURCHASE OF VEHICLE (PRIVATE OR COMMERCIAL) WITHOUT PROOF OF PARKING SPACE – Introduce differential Fee Structure for parking on Public Land with a percentage increase for 2nd, 3rd or 4th Vehicle Registered per Dwelling Unit instead of per family member. A HIGH COURT RULING FOR HOUSING SOCIETY, RESTRICTING ONE PARKING SLOT PER DWELLING UNIT IS WORTH EMULATING FOR EQUITABLE USE OF PUBLIC SPACES. Fleet owners should create own Parking Zones instead of using up public spaces.

INTRODUCE FIRST CLASS COMPARTMENTS ON METRO – Airlines, Trains, Busses, Mumbai Suburban all have 1st Class compartments.

VERIVICATION AND LINKING OF ADHAAR CARD OF DRIVER AND OWNER WITH VEHICLE RC- Safe, Secure and Sure availability of Transport irrespective of distance and area of travel will surely encourage citizens towards Public Transport. Today we cannot dream of allowing Ladies Travelling alone at night to or from Airport / Station etc.

PARKING FOR RESIDENTIAL AREAS- (A) MPD 2021 talks of parking as a composite entity ….. whereas the ground reality is that Parking in Commercial Areas and Residential Areas ought to be treated and addressed separately. While collecting Conversion Charges on account of additional floor and FAR for a residential plot …. parking has to be provided for the needs of the area residents ……. Whereas the only Parking Lots being planned are in Colony Markets and not for residents. (B) While framing ECS parking norms, Sangam Vihar and Greater Kailash ground realities must be kept in mind, one has more smaller cars while upscale colonies have SUVs Saloons ….. Can ECS norms be framed on same benchmarks ?????

SUGGESTION: (A) Areas should be identified with the help of RWAs ….. underground parking in large Colony Parks, Community Centres or Religious Places should be developed for Residential Parking. Parking lots should not be allowed on B.O.T. basis by allowing space for commercial activities. The expensive fully automated parking lots should be avoided to make the projects more viable …. Instead residents should be encouraged to form Co-operatives and allotted parking spaces on payment as is prevalent in Housing Societies. (B) Different ECS norms are needed for Sangam Vihar and Greater Kailash as bigger cars need more parking space as also larger manoeuvring area.

It seems, till now Governments and Municipalities were only interested in creating money making avenues for their Staff and Contractors. Citizens did not figure in their scheme of things …… HOPE THIS TIME ROUND THE POLICY WILL BE HOLISTICALLY THOUGHT THROUGH. These are preliminary submissions, I request you to give me an opportunity to elaborate in person before a final decision is taken.

Citizen;s reporter
Rajiv Kakria
Member, GK-I, RWA
e-mail: rkakria2@gmail.com