From negotiating narrow roads further congested by haphazardly parked vehicles of all sizes and class, to crawling from one street to the next to find that little space to squeeze in your car, parking is a hassle for Chennai – for the Greater Chennai Corporation, the traffic police and its residents alike.

Among the reasons that make parking so chaotic in Chennai is poor planning and enforcement. The Second Master Plan of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority had mandated parking space for different categories of commercial establishments. However, due to lax enforcement, these conditions exist only on paper, and footpaths and streets continue to double up as unofficial parking spots. 

In fact, this situation continues even after the Madras High Court directed the government to shut down eateries that do not have adequate parking space. 

The difficulty in finding a solution is due to the multi-dimensional nature of the problem, said a senior Corporation official. Past attempts to regulate parking by charging a fee was unsuccessful because of inconsistent enforcement and ad-hoc administration, he said. The authorities also tend to act less sternly in cases where the violators like restaurants are old establishments that have been functioning in an ancient neighbourhood, even before the law was codified. 

The dynamics are also affected by current practices. “Why would I pay Rs 100 to park inside a building when I can park on the road? We need to change parking space into a commodity, linking street parking options with existing structures in commercial establishments,” said the official.

Road design, too, plays a role in devising street parking spaces. Usually, the space between the carriageway and footpath is used for bus bays and parking. Attempts are under way to redesign roads such as NSC Bose Road to include these features, creating space for paid parking. If successful, this can be replicated in wide roads across the city.

“Parking issue can be solved through different ways. The first step is to take charge of public spaces; the parking management system attempts that,” added the official. 

Officials believe the parking management system could hold the key to solving parking issues. The Corporation official said an earlier study on demand assessment showed that there is 12,047 equivalent car-space (ECS) available for designated parking areas in the 471 bus route roads. The parking management system will be connected to an app, which enables one to hunt for empty parking slots, instead of driving around in circles as is often the case now. “Now, with a click, they can find out if a spot is available, even before they head out,” said the official. 

Under the system, the corporation will decide the parking fee based on the location. “For instance, it is Rs 40 for premium spaces and Rs 20 in other parts of the city. Two-wheelers will be charged one-fourth of that,” explained the official. 

“The project has scope to be expanded to non-bus route roads, which also have sizable unauthorised parking going on,” he said, adding that once the system is in place, unauthorised street parking will be strictly curbed by the Traffic Police, who are the enforcing authorities. 

Experts said parking management systems can help understand the demand better, because the numbers that they get now tend to be inflated as on-street parking is not charged. 

“To gauge the actual demand, first it needs to be charged. In commercial areas like NSC Bose Road or T-Nagar, most of the cars on the street are parked by owners of the establishments for 10-12 hours,” said Advait Jani of Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP). According to Jani, on-street parking charges should be higher in areas that have multi-level car park facility. “In T-Nagar, the pedestrian plaza on Sir Thyagaraya Road will make it a no-vehicle zone, ensuring that vehicle owners must park at the MLCP.” 

The key to efficient parking management is enforcement and management. “If you don’t fix on-street parking, no matter what facility you provide, people will not use it,” concluded the urban designer.

For some like Naresh R, an HR executive at a multi-national company in Sholinganallur, who has to spend three hours on the road to cover the 60km commute to and from his home in Perambur, unauthorised parking is more than a just hassle. It is an ordeal played out every day as he returns home after work. “There is a marriage hall right next to my house, which is rented out all throughout the year. Every evening, when I reach home, there are vehicles parked outside my gate. It takes me more than 30 minutes to find the owner of the vehicle, so that I can take my vehicle inside my own home,” fumed Naresh.

 

Estimated to cost Rs 7.10 crore, the tender for the system will require the private partner to design, build, finance, operate and transfer the on-street parking management and guidance system. The partner will design the system, bring in the capital and meet operational expenditure, and arrange the technology and manpower, aided by the city corporation and the traffic police.

MULTI-LEVEL CAR PARKS: T-Nagar, Pondy Bazaar, Nungambakkam, Saidapet and Basin Bridge