Traffic woes in Bengaluru: Govt plans vehicle parking policy

By: HT Auto Desk
Updated: Jul 17, 2024, 11:15 AM

Bengaluru is the sixth slowest city in the world in terms of traffic. The city incurs a loss of Rs 19,725 crore annually due to traffic delays.

Bengaluru remains the most congested city in India in terms of vehicle traffic. In a bid to ease traffic jams, the state government is planning to come up with a new vehicle parking policy.

Bengaluru may soon introduce a special vehicle parking policy to ease traffic congestion in the city. The capital of Karnataka ranks sixth in the world for slowest traffic in the city as traffic jams are almost a daily occurrence there. A recent study found that it would take around 28 minutes and 10 seconds to drive 10 km in Bengaluru in 2023. According to the state government, a short-term and long-term parking policy could help ease traffic congestion in the city.

Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara proposed the idea in the state Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. During the Question Hour, he said the plan would be discussed with the state transport department, as well as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and other stakeholders. The minister also said that the traffic problem in Bengaluru cannot be solved by the police alone.

Parking is a problem in Bengaluru because of the narrow roads. Vehicles parked in no-parking zones in the city often lead to traffic chaos. The minister said, “The traffic problem that Bengaluru faces is probably not seen anywhere else. There is no policy here, no infrastructure for the (number of) vehicles that we have here, and there is no regulatory mechanism either. If you go to any of the extensions, vehicles are parked on both sides of the road, making it difficult to drive. We need a policy on this.” He also said that vehicles regularly violate the no-parking rule on 1,194 roads. Vehicles parked on both sides of the road worsen the problem across Bengaluru.

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To deter vehicle owners from violating the parking ban, the state government may propose imposing hefty fines and specifying parking areas in its policy. The minister hopes that the rules, if implemented rigorously, will help reduce traffic congestion in the city. Fines for vehicles violating parking bans have increased in recent years. In 2022, over 12 lakh vehicle owners were fined Rs in Bengaluru ₹20 crore. In 2023, the collection of fines increased to more than ₹37 crore in 11 lakh recorded cases. This year the city has already recorded over five lakh cases and collected over ₹5 crore fine.

The minister also said that merely collecting fines may not solve Bengaluru’s traffic woes. “Until now, we have been simply imposing fines or taking away vehicles,” the minister said, adding that it has not helped in easing the traffic jams.

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According to a recent TomTom data, the average speed in Bengaluru was 18 km/h, slower than any other city in India. Bengaluru has about 23 lakh passenger cars and about 2,000 new vehicles are added every day. Bengaluru also incurs a loss of Rs 19,725 crore annually due to traffic delays, traffic jams, traffic light stoppages, time loss, fuel waste and related factors.

Date first published: Jul 17, 2024, 11:14 AM IST