ACP Sood suggests paid parking in City

“We don’t even need to widen roads. Instead of investing in laying wide roads, the money must be spent on constructing parking lots,” he added.

He was addressing a gathering at a talk on ‘Traffic problems in Bangalore’ organised by the Rotary House of Friendship here on Monday.

“Parking eats into 30 per cent of space, another 20 per cent is always dug up for some purpose or the other. What we are left with for traffic is only half,” he pointed out.

‘Abuse of roads’

Suggesting that vehicle owners should be charged for parking on roads, Sood said: “A car can be parked on M G Road free for 12 hours. Which other city on earth offers this? But roads are abused here, for parking is free. If parking fee is charged, people will opt for public transport.” He, however, lamented that “the government is unwilling to do so because it cannot provide good service”.

‘Mumbai way ahead’

Bangalore's traffic woes were mainly due to the lack of a robust public transport, he said. "Eighty-five percent of Mumbaikars have, sometime or the other, travelled by suburban trains. The metropolis has only 20 lakh private vehicles and the citizens have a better traffic sense because of strong cultural ethos," he asserted.

With regard to awful service conditions of traffic policemen, Sood said: "Seventy percent of them suffer from partial deafness because of honking by motorists. They can bear with all professional health hazards, but what is the cure for angry looks they get from commuters."