The Indian Express                 28.12.2013

Sec 17 to get 2 automated parking lots today

Two fully automated parking lots will become operational in Sector 17 on Friday. This is for the first time that such a system will be introduced in commercial areas of the city.

With full automation, the number of vehicles that are being parked at one time will be restricted and the residents will be required to pay as per the number of hours for which the vehicle is parked.

The fully automated parking facility will be introduced at the Empire Store parking lot and at the Sahib Singh parking lot. While entering the parking, people will be given an electronically generated slip that will have the time of entry. For the first four hours, Rs 5 will be charged for four-wheelers and Rs 2 for two-wheelers. Thereafter, for the next four hours, an additional Rs 5 will be charged for four-wheelers and Rs 2 for two-wheelers.

Initially, the proposal was to charge Rs 5 for the first two hours and Rs 10 for every subsequent hour for four-wheelers. For two-wheelers, Rs 2 were to be paid for the first two hours and Rs 4 for every subsequent hour. The proposal witnessed opposition from several quarters and was revised.

The number of vehicles that are parked in these parking lots will be restricted. The Sahib Singh Parking lot can accommodate around 300 vehicles while the Empire Store parking lot has the capacity for 139 vehicles. Once these are full, no other vehicles will be allowed to enter till there is a vacant slot. At present, the contractors keep allowing vehicles to enter, creating a chaos inside the parking lots.

Mayor Subhash Chawla will inaugurated the facility.

The proposal had been in the pipeline for the past several years. However, it could not materialise. The MC had installed equipment for making the parking lots semi-automated. The experiment was not successful with the equipment not being put to any use.

The growing number of vehicles are causing parking problems with the space available shrinking. The existing parking lots are generally brimming with vehicles with some of these spilling out onto the roads as well. The contractors at the parking lots flout norms laid down by the civic body.

The Indian Express              27.12.2013

Pay 300% more to park in ‘popular’ areas

Vehicle owners will have to brace for a 300 per cent hike in the cost of parking in popular areas of the city. The BMC's statutory improvement committee passed a parking policy which proposed a Rs 60 per hour charge for parking lots in most popular areas such as Fort, Nariman Point and Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Colaba.

At present, the parking fee at such lots is Rs 20 per hour. As per civic data, there are over 60 such parking lots in the city.

The policy includes an area-based rating of parking charges, which will mean a lesser hike for the least popular areas and higher for more popular ones. For example, parking lots in Kandivali's Charkop or Chembur's Shoppers Stop will see a hike of 33 per cent in parking charges, while those such as Regal or Lion Gate will see a 200 per cent rise to Rs 40 an hour.

The increase has been proposed for the next two years, after which the charges will be increased by 10 per cent every two years.

At present, there are 92 pay-and-park lots, of which 47 are in south Mumbai. In category A, the most populous lots include parking plots which are close to railway stations and markets such as Crawford Market, Churchgate and Lower Parel. Areas such as Prabhadevi and Siddhivinayak will see a two-fold hike under category B.

While the BMC will allow free parking on parking lots near tourism spots on weekends and public holidays, it has proposed to remove parking lots within a 100-metre radius of schools and colleges in a phasewise manner.

The policy was passed Thursday, despite opposition from Congress corporators.

"It will affect the common man, especially two-wheeler owners," said Congress Corporator Mohsin Haider.

However, BMC's improvements committee chairman and BJP corporator Ram Barot said, "The rise in parking cost will probably push people to use public transport. This will reduce traffic in congested areas."