The city council is set to fast-track new rules to see that parking in the central business district will no longer be free.
It recently approved the BBMP’s policy to tackle parking problems plaguing the city.
Although the recommendations were made by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), the final policy was watered down by the BBMP which thought the original proposals were not suitable for the city. It also feared that the proposals may inconvenience people.
Nevertheless, it was a start, said a Palike official.
“It was decided that parking fee will be imposed only in commercial areas and not in residential areas and parking space will be uniform across the city,” said the official.
BBMP will ensure that a suitable portion of the designated parking area is reserved for physically handicapped persons. Area will also be given for bicycle parking, according to the draft policy.
DULT had suggested that the city area be divided into three zones with the central business district as A zone, the area between the inner ring road and the outer ring road as B zone and the area outside the outer ring road area as C zone. Each of these areas was to have different parking fees for on street parking and off street parking and stricter restrictions on parking time.
“We removed this. Instead, we will enforce uniform parking fees in designated areas where we will allow parking. Vehicles cannot be parked in areas that are not designated for parking,” said the official.
All these areas will have automated parking, similar to the one on Brigade Road. This will ensure that parking is automated, transparent and corruption-free, he said.
The DULT had recommended ensuring proof of parking space so that vehicles are not parked on the street in front of residences. It even suggested implementation of congestion tax to ease traffic in the city.
“It was feared that if we impose restrictions in terms of buying vehicles, people will simply buy vehicles from other states and we will end up losing revenue,” he said.
“Sure, this may be a slightly weaker policy than what was envisaged. Nevertheless, it is a start. The policy may not even come into place if we do not make it acceptable to the council members and to the people,” he said.
With the council approving the policy, it will be forwarded to the DULT, who will then conduct a feasibility study and prepare the bye law, guidelines and an implementation plan.
This will be discussed again in the council and after on approval it will be submitted to the government, which will take the final decision.
Despite weaker laws, the BBMP is hoping to collect at least `50 crore from parking fees alone.
“Had we made parking payable across the city and incorporated more recommendations of DULT, we could have made a lot more money,” he said.
