When Chandigarh increased the parking fee for the two wheelers and four wheelers last month, there was lot of oppositions. Lack of quality parking space is forcing many municipal bodies to increase parking fee to improve infrastructure, however can it be a viable solution?
In India the number of private vehicle has increased many folds in the last 10 years, putting pressure on the existing parking spaces and forcing people to park their vehicles on road. This results in crowding of the public places like market and a nightmare for both commuters and traffic police.

Smart Parking

Smart parking uses electronic parking guidance system which uses parking sensors, dynamic real-time message signs and a mobile-friendly website and application to direct drivers to available parking at the nearby area. This results in fewer cars circling looking for parking. The method can be also use to tell commuters if parking area is full on weekends so that commuters can plan their trip accordingly.

Case for Indian Cities

As per IBM Global Parking Index 2011, an average urban motorist spends 20 minutes more on road due to parking problems. This is not only a waste of time but loss of productivity.

It was for this reason, the smart Cities Mission made smart parking system one of the mandatory feature of the City Proposal to provide the commuters with quality parking space, which is safe, easy to use for the commuters.

“Finding a parking slot is becoming a real challenge. Lack of parking lots and haphazard parking are just adding to road users’ woes, especially in busy centres. Smart parking is a new way of managing parking in cities using new technology. With this new system, you can save time and energy and reduce traffic problems and air pollution,’’ said Muralidhar Turuvekere, nodal officer for the Smart City project.

In Bangalore, the government is implementing ‘smart parking’ system that helps drivers find parking slots using a smartphone app. In its first phase, it will convert parking stretches on about 85 roads into smart ones. A central server will connect the management of all parking lots. CCTVs will be installed from where employees and municipal officials can check the live status of the parking situation in a particular bay, and oversee all the activities. This step will help make multilevel parking a success.

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has proposed to appoint a concessionaire for a period of 5-7 years for managing and upgrading all parking lots in its areas with sensors and installation of cameras on public-private partnership (PPP) basis. With the proposed sensor-based parking management system, citizens can get online information about the availability of the parking space, its usage charges and route map on their smart phones.
Other cities like Bhubaneswar, Kochi, Pune, Jaipur, Nagpur are also in the process of implementing the same.

Smart Applications

Get My Parking (GMP) is a Chennai Angels funded venture started by IIT Madras and FMS Delhi alumni which has digitized the parking industry. They are now working with several city municipal corporations to accelerate smart parking digitization and accomplish the mission to change urban mobility in India.
GMP’s new on-street parking digitization technology which doesn’t need expensive sensors to give real-time availability. It makes use of geo-fencing and deep integration with parking meters, cameras, and citizens’ mobile app to gather and provide real-time parking information on every street. This product can be used to solve parking problems in any city around the world, irrespective of the differences in the parking policies and the urban infrastructure.
They have recently got a pilot project in Jaipur from Jaipur Development Authority to prove the smart parking pilot. Upon success, the entire Jaipur city can have their smart parking apps and tools.

Counting Benefits

“Delhi RTO registers 1600 vehicles every day. Pune adds 700. Thousands of vehicles are being added to roads every day, but vehicles spend 90 per cent of the time being parked. Where will we park all these new vehicles? Not only do inefficient parking systems result in congestion and increased carbon emissions, they also waste commuters’ time, leads to productivity loss and loss of economic opportunities and can lead to inefficient city services,” said Chirag Jain of ‘Get My Parking’.

Another advantage is that the system can work completely cashless. Also it will help the enforcement agencies - police and BBMP - will also benefit. By sending real-time information to the control centre, these sensors help the traffic police and civic body monitor parking spaces, by detecting vehicles parked in restricted parking areas.