VMC drafting parking policy to ease traffic woes

Vadodara: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is drafting an elaborate parking policy to take care of the traffic and parking woes in the city.
In the coming days, citizens may have to pay for parking if they park on the roadside for longer than specified periods of time.
The parking policy aims at providing sufficient street parking in areas frequented by citizens. The vehicles may be allowed to park for free for a short period, following which parking will be charged. The free parking periods will be decided based on the rush witnessed in a particular area.
“We may provide free parking for longer periods in areas that do not witness heavy rush. Areas where there is high traffic and high demand for parking, the free parking time may be shorter,” said VMC commissioner Ajay Bhadoo.
The civic body also plans to have parking meters as well as digital parking displays showing the availability of parking. To monitor the parking and traffic situation in the city, the civic body plans to appoint a director (traffic) and traffic enforcement officers under the director who will work in a traffic cell proposed by the VMC.
“The traffic enforcement officer will be a game changer. They will have rights to impound wrongly parked vehicles and take other steps,” said Bhadoo. The income generated by the new parking policy will be used for implementation and improvement of the parking policy and facilities in the city.
The civic body has invited suggestions from citizens for the policy. These can be submitted to the municipal secretary of the VMC at Khanderao Market.