Stuck in bengaluru

Stuck in bengaluru

Buying a car is the end of one struggle and the start of another: Parking.

To solve traffic woes in the state capital, Karnataka transport minister DC Thammanna has proposed that from next year Bengalureans will not be able to buy a car unless they show that they have space to park it on their premises. While he is right that cars at rest cannibalising road space aggravates the commute for cars on the move, his solution is wrong-headed. Other than choking automobile sales and putting an automobile out of reach of those needing personal vehicles, this kind of scheme would send a disconcerting signal about the quality of life in India’s Silicon Valley.

Thammanna believes those not buying cars will shift to public transport options. But much of the desire for personal cars is driven precisely by the inadequacy of public transport. Recall how the odd-even scheme in Delhi to curb vehicular pollution failed in the absence of last-mile connectivity for those wishing to ditch their vehicles. Upwardly mobile people seeking to buy their first car could be the worst hit by such ideas.

Just in Thammanna’s Bengaluru, 11 multi-storey publicly-owned parking structures see only 20-30% occupancy while haphazardly parked cars and two-wheelers choke roads in their immediate vicinity. A policy to heavily penalise such errant vehicles would yield far better results than sweeping curbs on car-buying. Delhi has mooted “rental” charges for overnight parking on streets that are facing resistance but may need to be pursued. In many cities, construction of multi-level parking structures has been marred by delays, poor design and mismanagement. Mandating future residential and commercial development with provisioning for parking, acquiring land for parking structures in older neighbourhoods and seriously upgrading public transport are the right ways out of this urban gridlock.