Have you visited a friend lately at an apartment complex? Even if it is a posh one, chances are you found no parking for your car. The absence of adequate parking is a huge problem in the city. With significantly reduced land space and exponentially more cars, what is the corporation doing to solve the issue? Latest statistics from the Department of Transport indicate that Tamil Nadu has 188.09 lakh vehicles, of which Chennai alone has 42 lakh.
As always, we have the rules on paper. A. Shankar, National Director and Head - Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle, says that CMDA regulations make it mandatory to provide parking facility as per size of project (see table). “And apartment buildings provide parking slots at the basement, stilt or surface level.”
Unfortunately, though, not all developers implement the rule correctly. Once a project gets its clearances, developers use the space meant for parking for other amenities. As usual, the CMDA turns a blind eye to this. You end up with a situation where there is no parking within a complex, nor parking on the street outside.
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Space being at a premium, some high-end developers monetise it by giving flat owners the option to buy additional parking slots. “Some premium projects sell as many as five car parks per unit.” But that is a limited response.
Are multi-level car parks (MLCPs) the solution? No, says a representative of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), adding that the key is to regulate the existing parking inventory. “The Corporation needs to know how many parking spaces are available and manage them effectively. Even if the Corporation builds MLCPs in congested areas, these will end up attracting more vehicles. It will add to the congestion with most city roads being narrow,” he says.
A recent report shows that haphazard parking has led to a 15-65 per cent loss of road space. Experts suggest another solution: the ‘pay-and-park’ system. Raj Cherubal, Director-Projects, Chennai City Connect (CCC), says, “The price of parking in all advanced cities is linked to demand and real estate prices. The higher the demand for parking, the higher the price. The idea behind paid parking, especially on streets, is to ensure that people don’t park vehicles for long times. It requires sophisticated monitoring systems.”
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Another concern is the large number of commercial establishments in primarily residential localities. They don’t have parking facilities and add to the chaos. But, says Raj, the solution lies in encouraging people to use public transport. “Parking policy, enforcement, and parking management systems are complementary to public transport.
Commercial establishments do not add to the chaos, vehicles do. In Vienna, the metro rail, tram, and bus bay is located in a residential area. There is no chaos or proliferation of cars since public transport is available.”
Parking management in the city can only improve when existing policies are correctly implemented. Right now, policies are being flouted.
As a CCC report states, parking management must be approached from short, medium and long term perspectives with clearly defined goals and milestones. This will go a long way towards enabling a better planned development of the city.