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Parking & traffic congestion
Written By idontspam - 18 February, 2009
Traffic Bangalore Congestion Bangalore Roads parking Analysis Improvement junction
There is an urgent need for a paradigm shift on two counts. Firstly, shift focus from road widening to junction improvement. Secondly, shift focus to create parking infrastructure.
Pravin Sood, additional commissioner of police (traffic & security)
As a child, I read a story about six blind men asked to describe what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of its body. The first man, who felt the leg, said the elephant was like a pillar; the other, who felt the tail, said it was like a rope; the one who felt the ear said the elephant was like a hand fan and so on. Their descriptions differed because each experienced different parts. There's an analogy between this story and our understanding of the traffic problem.
There is an urgent need for a paradigm shift on two counts. Firstly, shift focus from road widening to junction improvement. Increasing capacity of roads without addressing capacity of junctions negates benefits accruing from the investment. Even after road widening, in the absence of grade separators at junctions, vehicles reach the junctions faster and then wait there for clearance.
Moreover, road widening requires much more effort in terms of land acquisition, cutting of trees, shifting of utilities and confrontation with pressure groups with different mandates. Also, wider roads could become natural parking lots. Not that road widening should not be done. In fact, Bangalore has the distinction of lowest road-to-area ratio in the country. But, Bangalore also has a rare distinction of having more than 40,000 junctions of which 1,000 are on arterial roads; and, of these about 100 signalised junctions across 14 corridors spanning about 59 km carry 50% of the total traffic in a day. The issue is not `road' or `junction' but `road and junction' improvement. Unless junction improvement accompanies corridor improvements, the full benefits of road widening can never be experienced.
Secondly, shift focus to create parking infrastructure. Major roads have been made one-ways while part of these roads is used for parking; 30% of the arterial road space is used as parking lots. Why do we invest in road widening, when they end up as parking lots? Why not invest the same money for parking infrastructure? Removing parking on roads is easier said than done. Considering the flourishing economic activities in parking space (basements) and near absence of parking infrastructure, it's a distant dream. Theoretically, if on-street and footpath parking is totally eliminated, hundreds of schools, commercial establishments and even government offices will have to close down. To expect police to do something like this is denying the existence of malignancy in the system.
Why can't we convert a few one-ways into two-ways? We can, if roads are kept only for moving vehicles, not for parking and certainly not for pedestrians. In our society, most of the economy survives on encroachment of public spaces.
Enforcement without creating alternatives can never be a solution. Of the 35 lakh vehicles on the roads every day, not even 20% are parked throughout the day at earmarked places. Is it possible to tow away 80% of the vehicles? Where is the parking space for all the vehicles? Most parking infrastructure has come up in malls in recent years, but that has not mitigated the problem. These have merely created an additional need and fulfilled that need.
Even on-street parking remains unregulated and since most is free, there is no incentive for people to use public transport. Parking capacities can never be created by government alone and private sector can only be expected to participate if it makes economic sense. Often, the intelligentsia talks about congestion pricing like in London, to which my answer is, we walk before we must run. Parking pricing itself can encourage migration to public transport.
I won't be surprised if you don't agree with me. I could well be one of those six blind men.
COMMENTS
kbsyed61 - 18 February, 2009 - 21:16
IDS,
Definitely you are not just touching the tail only. You are also holding the trunk. You are bang on w.r.t road igns and flyovers. K R Puram Junction is the best example of a showcase, how not to build right things at right places. Looks like all our urban planners are in love with either HSRL or Metro. But no time to attend to small things like signs, Ped Xings, redesiging the junctions etc.
Coming to Parking issue, where do we find place to build the parking lots? CBD doesn't have that luxury? Propsed TTMC's? Can the vast land that every state and govt offices has, be converted into a Public parking lot?
Syed
...more powers to be join Mr Praveen Sood's line of thought. I agree with his assertions, though we might have differences in the implementation detail. And would like to add a third front where such a shift in policy is long overdue - Enforcement.
Ravi
mcadambi - 19 February, 2009 - 05:17
This is the responsibility of the Traffic Police. If the Traffic police show the way, then public will follow.
Mr Praveen Sood and his department is obvisously in a position of influence and they can show the lead for others. If they do not act, then the public will not act.
asj - 19 February, 2009 - 06:27
I don't think its a job for police to put up signage and manage road markings - its the corporations responsibility (at least in Pune). Further the corporation can and does employ on contract parking wardens (why waste police time on this when they should deal with matters more important?).
Some pointers from UK-
- Hardly any on-street parking is free (pay as you go or one buys permits from local council for each zone / region)
- Most of this is provided for in side lanes and not main roads
- IRC has guidance on yellow lines and parking bays
- Not all parking should be long stay, in many UK malls, shopping streets, maximum allowed time is 2 hours and you can't return to that street again for specified time. Some parking is allowed only for 10 minutes, others only drop-off and pick-up points.
- Database - I once applied for a permit to park anywhere in Hounslow (I was new to UK and thoguht if I can drive to the station and park in a side lane it will save me 10 minutes). I got a reply saying I can't be given this facility as I lived in a gated development which has its own parking facility.
ASJ
idontspam - 18 February, 2009 - 21:00
I do not entirely disagree but I find that in areas where we need to walk we are planning to run and in areas where we need to run we are campaigning for walking.
For example, when the roads lacks lane marking, consistent sign boards, evenly sized roads, proper quality asphalting, pedestrian facilities, cycle tracks, ped crosswalks etc we skip all that and run to build flyovers and expressways. On areas where we can actually take advantage of running we plan to walk like we know very well the tenders for the parking meters have not been taken up by anybody, why dont we just introduce congestion charging and include the parking charges in the collection of toll?
Or am I the one holding the tail here?
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