City police plan to ban parking on arterial roads

City police plan to ban parking on arterial roads
The Hindu

Rules to be framed in this regard, says M.N. Reddi

# `Use of CNG by buses will help in reducing air pollution'
# Twelve more LPG stations for autorickshaws to come up
# There will be a definite change in traffic management in the next five years: Reddi

BANGALORE: The city police plan to ban parking on all arterial roads to ease the flow of traffic, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M.N. Reddi said on Thursday.

He said this in reply to a question on what action had been planned to limit parking on roads. This was after he made a presentation on "Bangalore Traffic Action Committee (B-TRAC)-2010" at the 37th All-India Police Science Congress.

Mr. Reddi said the Central Motor Vehicle Rules prescribed ban on parking vehicles on main roads, which were meant for uninterrupted and smooth flow of traffic.

"Rules will be framed to consider arterial roads as main roads and ban parking there," he said. "There should be a paradigm shift from supply management to demand management; you cannot increase the size of roads or stop registration of new vehicles, but you can create better infrastructure and equipment for smooth, faster flow of traffic without hold-ups," he said.

The earlier traffic management ideas were giving way to a system of diverting traffic away from the central business district (CBD), unless people had business there. B-TRAC would have a comprehensive strategy to manage traffic in a seven km radius of the CBD using newer traffic control system. These might include signage indicating where traffic was heavy and indicating alternative routes, he said. Drivers may also get SMS from the traffic police asking them to avoid certain roads for stipulated periods. `Vehicle activated traffic signals' which respond to actual traffic needs might be another innovation.

Manual booking of traffic violation cases would give way to using hand-held computers which would transmit vehicle numbers to a central database. The officers using the computers would also collect spot fines. The city police proposed to equip their personnel with 200 handheld computers in the coming months.

Mr. Reddi said use of compressed natural gas by buses, like in New Delhi, would help in reducing air pollution. For autorickshaws using LPG, the city would have 12 more LPG stations.

In his presentation, Mr. Reddi said the city would find a definite change in traffic management in the next five years.

He showed a 20-minute video of the works that would be carried out for management of traffic. These included better infrastructure, improving roads and storm water drains; better parking areas, facilities for pedestrians, traffic awareness programmes and more police-public interface.

Mr. Reddi spoke about the 10 immediate tasks, designed as per the directions of Chief Minister. These include restoration of footpaths, better road markings and dedicated lanes for autorickshaws and buses.