In a recent blog, I reported on the new approach by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) of Mumbai to build seven underground parking lots, and let the contractors maintain the lots and keep the revenue for 30 years. In the blog I made it clear that I support this approach in theory, however, I should mention that there remains one major barrier to success.
"A lot of people are opposing this model, as car owners won't use such a facility unless the policing and rules are strict – which nobody believes the Mumbai government has the guts to do," says Ashok Datar, founder and chairman of Mumbai Environmental Social Network, who points out that the cost of the initial construction of the seven proposed underground car parks will be borne by the public. Understandably, the public is not going to support funding the construction of car parks that nobody is going to use.
"People don't use such high cost parking islands when elsewhere one can park free or at a low rate," Datar says. "People think that free parking is their birth right."
It is a matter of supply and demand, and as long as free street parking is available in Mumbai, even though it may be illegal, most drivers will choose the free parking if the enforcement is not there. The new underground lots will be empty, and will not help alleviate the city's serious parking problems.
"In a highly congested city like Mumbai, there should be very few areas in the city where free parking should be possible or permitted on road," Datar explains. "To improve the compliance, we need to supplement the system of ticket fixing on the car, advising direct payment of fine – ranging from 300 to 1000 rupees – through the use of IT in a dedicated bank account. This will reduce corruption and towing, and increase the chances of getting caught several times. This will be a perfect deterrent."
"Substantially reducing free parking and making users of road space pay a fair price will automatically encourage good behavior," Datar concludes.
Pete Goldin
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