30 spots for two-wheeler parking

30 spots for two-wheeler parking

The HIndu

U.S. model to be adopted for traffic management in city


Bangalore: Better days are ahead for two-wheeler riders struggling to find a parking slot for their vehicle on city roads.

"We are identifying 25 to 30 locations for parking lots, not necessarily the multi-level type, but more suited to the needs of two-wheelers who are a majority on the roads.

Having more number of smaller parking lots appears to be the best solution," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M.N. Reddi. Even private land may be leased for the purpose.

Mr. Reddi was speaking on Traffic Management and Parking Issues at the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) here on Sunday.

Mr. Reddi, who has written several reports on traffic management, said Bangaloreans may soon have to follow the example of their counterparts in Europe and some cities in the U.S.

"They may have to park some distance away from the commercial centres and do their shopping on foot," he said.

"The primary purpose of roads is the need for vehicles on the move and not parking. Between January and November this year we booked 2.42 lakh cases of parking violations and the police will be stricter in the days to come," Mr. Reddi said.

Reacting to the demands of traders' associations in places such as Chickpet, he said the question of extending parking hours beyond 9 p.m. can be considered once space is found.

"When I was DCP Traffic in 1992, there were 6 lakh vehicles in the city and now we have close to 24 lakh vehicles for a population of around 5.6 million.

t calls for a new approach to traffic management," he said. The average annual growth in the number of vehicles was 1.5 lakh to 2 lakhs.

For too long, traffic planners had looked only at "supply management" by providing wider roads and intersections and building flyovers.

The "demand management" of trying to restrict the number of vehicles on roads was not considered till now.

In a democracy, one cannot stop people from owning vehicles, he said.