- Bengaluru stands as world’s sixth slowest city in terms of traffic. The city suffers a loss of Rs19,725 crore per year due to traffic delays.
Bengaluru may soon have a dedicated parking policy for vehicles to ease traffic jams in the city. The capital of Karnataka ranks sixth in terms of slowest traffic in a city around the world as traffic jams are almost a regular occurrence. A recent study had revealed that travelling 10 kms in Bengaluru in 2023 roughly took 28 minutes and 10 seconds. According to the state government, a short and long term parking policy could help decongest the city.
G Parameshwara, Home Minister of Karnataka, proposed the idea at the state’s Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. During Question Hour, he said that the plan will be discussed with the state’s transport department as well as the city’s civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) among other stakeholders. The minister also said that Bengaluru’s traffic issue cannot be resolved by the police team alone.
Parking in Bengaluru is an issue with narrow roads. Stationery vehicles in no-parking zones in the city often leads to traffic chaos. The minister said, “Probably the traffic issue that is seen in Bengaluru is not seen anywhere. There is no policy here, no infrastructure for the (number of) vehicles we have here, also there is no regulatory mechanism. If you go to any extensions, vehicles are parked on both sides of roads, making it difficult for vehicles to pass by. We need a policy for this.” He also said vehicles flout the no-parking rule on 1,194 roads regularly. Vehicles parked on both sides of roads aggravates the issue across Bengaluru.
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To deter vehicle owners from flouting no-parking rule, the state government may propose imposing heavy fines and defining parking areas in its policy. The minister hopes that the rules, if implemented strictly, could help decongest the city. Fines against vehicles for flouting no-parking rules have increased in recent years. In 2022, Bengaluru saw more than 12 lakh vehicle owners fined over ₹20 crore. In 2023, the collection of fine increased to more than ₹37 crore in 11 lakh cases registered. This year, the city has already clocked more than five lakh cases and collection of over ₹5 crore as fine.
The minister also said merely collecting fines may not solve Bengaluru’s traffic problems. “So far we have just been fining or taking away vehicles,” the minister said, adding that it has not helped to ease congestion.
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According to a recent by TomTom, the average speed in Bengaluru stood at 18 kmph, slower than any Indian city. Bengaluru has roughly 23 lakh private cars in the city and adds around 2,000 new vehicles every day. Bengaluru also suffers a loss of Rs19,725 crore per year due to traffic delays, congestion, stoppage of signals, time loss, fuel loss and related factors.
First Published Date: 17 Jul 2024, 11:14 AM IST