Now, pay for parking at all metro stations

Parking at the 12 metro stations in the city will not be free anymore. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has awarded contracts to agencies for collecting parking fee for a period of up to two years.

The annual contract licence fee and 5% escalation the subsequent year will fetch BMRCL Rs 2.55 crore.

Besides Peenya, Baiyappanahalli, Dasarahalli, Yeshwantpur, Soap Factory and Mahalakshmi metro stations, BMRCL has introduced the pay-and-park system at Swami Vivekananda Road, Nagasandra, Jalahalli, Magadi Road, Hosahalli and Mysuru Road stations, a senior official said.

The Mysuru Road station has the largest parking space spread over 11,499 square metres, while Dasarahalli and Jalahalli metro stations have the least space with 230 square metres.

BMRCL will generate Rs 1.27 crore as licence fee every year from the Mysuru Road station alone, where 1,700 two-wheelers and 300 four-wheelers can be parked at a time. The contract is already operational at nine stations and land-levelling is under way at Yeshwantpur and Mahalakshmi stations.

Contractor agreement for the 1,500 square-metre parking lot at the Magadi Road metro station is yet to be signed, the official said. “We will soon float a tender for a similar project at the Sir M Visvesvaraya station, City Railway station and Peenya Industry station,” he added.

BMRCL has fixed a uniform parking fee at all the metro stations – Rs 30 (four-wheelers) and Rs 15 (two-wheelers) for the first four hours and Rs 10 and Rs 5, respectively, for the subsequent hour.

The maximum fee for a full-day parking will be Rs 60 for cars and Rs 30 for two-wheelers. Bicycles are charged Re 1 per hour and a maximum of Rs 10 per day. There is a separate charge for light commercial vehicles with a minimum fee of Rs 75 to a maximum of Rs 150.

Meanwhile, a few commuters have opined that increasing the number of BMTC feeder services in the surrounding areas to connect the nearest metro station would encourage commuters to use public transport instead of taking their vehicles up to the stations.