Steep parking fees all over the world are a deterrent to bringing more cars on the road. In the city , where onstreet parking restricts smooth traffic flow, such a step may not be far away .
In its draft policy , Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), has proposed up to three-fold rise in charges to discourage private vehicle owners from venturing out on busy roads.
The policy has been published on the civic body’s official website, where PMC has divided city into four different zones from A to D.
While zone A includes gaothan, B has the mobility corridors of main roads and areas 100 metres adjacent to them. Zone C comprises areas 500 metres from the mobility corridors and D covers all residential areas. The areas prone to heavy traffic will have double the parking charges as compared to the residential zones.
“Officials of the traffic department, traffic planners, citizens’ groups, NGOs and experts were consulted while drafting the policy .Most of them have supported the increase in parking charges to discourage vehicle owners from taking their vehicles on busy city roads. The administration must take tough decisions to curtail congestion on roads,“ said Kunal Kumar. As per the experts, who have drafted the policy, PMC will give concession on parking in the areas, which don’t have adequate parking facilities, including gaothan areas. The discount will be offered only during night hours.
The on-road parking fee will be higher compared to the off-road.
The administration has finalised basic charges and he zones will have charges in he multiples of the basic fee.The core area (zone A) has 3.55 times the basic parking charges, whereas zones B, C and D have 2.5, 1.75 and 1.5 times the basic charges, respectively.
The core area of the city ncludes all the Peths, Laxmi Road, Kumthekar Road, Shivaji Road, Bajirao Road and Tilak Road. The mobility corridor roads are Nagar Road, Nehru-Market Yard Road, Satara Road, Sinhagad Road, Karve Road, Paud Road, FC Road and JM Road.
Parking on most roads in the city is free. Experts said such freebies encourage more and more people to bring their private vehicles, thus clogging roads.
Source : TOI
