Will the steep hike in towing rates curb roadside parking?

Can the recent hike in towing rates ease traffic congestion in the city? Will there be reduction in the use of private transport, owing to lack of parking space?

R Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), sees a slight reduction in roadside parking at a few places, while urban mobility experts claim that introducing pay-and-park system would ease traffic. The revised towing charge is Rs 1,000 for Light Motor Vehicles (autorickshaw, tempo) from Rs 500 while the amount of penalty for two-wheelers has been increased from Rs 200 to Rs 650.

“There are people who want to avoid paid parking in hospitals, malls and instead park their vehicles roadside. This tendency has come down with increase in penalty.

Now, at least some vehicle-users are aware that leaving their vehicles on the road will attract penalty. This will ultimately help in smooth flow of traffic,” Hithedra said.

He continued, “Traffic moves like water, and road capacity depends upon its narrowest point. Wrong parking and even breakdown of buses result in traffic chaos on the entire stretch. Sitting inside the car parked on the road with blinkers flashing is also against the law,” the officer said, adding that the city’s roads were witnessing more vehicles than their capacity.

“The traffic police have identified 12 high-density roads and six roads as signal-free. We will conduct intensive drives to make sure the flow of traffic is not disrupted due to roadside parking,” Hithendra said. Towing away vehicles, in itself, is a way of creating awareness, the officer said. 

The BBMP had proposed to re-introduce pay-and-park system on 56 roads. The project, which promises adoption of modern and automated smart parking system, has seen no significant progress. “We have floated tenders and will implement it in a few months,” a senior official said.

Urban activist Ashwin Mahesh termed pay-and-park system the most-effective method to reduce congestion on the roads. “The BBMP can collect a minimum of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh per day if this project is implemented in a systematic way.

Along with this, the Palike should make sure that the money is used for measures to improve the city’s transport facilities, like cycling, walking and introduction of more buses,” he said.