“Parking policy for Delhi” Draft

1. “Parking policy for Delhi”Draft Municipal Corporation of Delhi

2. Contents • Impact of Congestion • Traffic Pattern & Growth • Vehicular Parking • Principles of Parking Policy • Factors effecting the Policy • Objectives of Parking Policy • Suggestions & Recommendations • Parking Technologies • Multi Pronged Approach • Pricing • Congestion Charges

3. Traffic snarl snaps 42 Crore man-hour • 70 lakh working population in India's capital city of Delhi and NCR lose nearly 42 Crore man-hour every month while commuting between home and office, thanks to the traffic congestion and increasing jams in the city. • comparative analysis done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM),2008 • Multiplying by Rs 20 per hour would mean losing Rs 840 Crores per month or over Rs 10080 Crores per year.

4. Negative impact of congestion • Delays, which may result in late arrival for employment, meetings, and education, resulting in lost business, disciplinary action or other personal losses. • Wasted fuel increasing air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions (which may contribute to global warming) owing to increased idling, acceleration and braking. Increased fuel use may also in theory cause a rise in fuel costs. • Wear and tear on vehicles as a result of idling in traffic and frequent acceleration and braking, leading to more frequent repairs and replacements.

5. Stressed and frustrated motorists, encouraging road rage • Late response in Emergencies: blocked traffic may interfere with the passage of emergency vehicles traveling to their destinations where they are urgently needed. • Spillover effect from congested main arteries to secondary roads and side streets as alternative routes are attempted ('rat running'), which may affect neighborhood amenity, safety and real estate prices. • Pollution caused by slow moving traffic. This is exacerbated if heavy diesel vehicles are part of the traffic flow.

6. Traffic patterns • The traffic in Delhi is predominantly motorized vehicles • The road space is shared by at least 30 different types of vehicles, each with different static & dynamic characteristics. • The share of non-motorized modes of transport ranged between 8% Source IIT

7. Vehicular growth • The population of India’s six major metropolises increased by about 1.9 times during 1981 to 2001, Number of motor vehicles went up by over 7.75 times during the same period • Delhi has the highest number of vehicles for any city in India with the figures well above 54 Lac vehicles in the city, not to mention vehicles registered in other states that are used in Delhi. • Delhi daily adds above 1000 vehicles on its roads, resulting in over 365000 vehicles being added annually

9. Over 221 Million Dollar or 1000 Million Rupees fuel lost annually due to congestion & idling

10. Personal vehicles drive out public transport • 1087 vehicles are added each day • 1021 vehicles are personal • 20% household owns cars • Public transport ridership dropped from 60% to 41% between 2001-08 • Source Prof Sarkar, SPA

11. Dependence for Connecting the First & Last Mile • Lack Of Accessibility Of Public Transport: One of the biggest drawbacks for public transport system is the lack of first and last mile connectivity for commuters and hence they opt for personalized mode of transport • Lack of synchronization or facilities using non mortised transport, para-transit systems, battery operated vehicles. • This leads to handicaps at interchange points of the public transport networks and commercial hubs which do not have adequate park and ride facilities forcing people to opt for personalized vehicle usage.

12. Clogging Of Space By Private Vehicles • Personal vehicles in the city cater to only 30% of the travel demand • Buses which constitute only 1.2% cater to 60% of the total traffic load • Source EPCA 95 % of the time, private vehicles are immobile while Public transportation vehicles spend far more time moving

13. Levy & Taxes Favors Personalized Mode Of Transport • MCD imposes a onetime night parking charges at the time of purchase of a new vehicle while commercial vehicles are charged annually against the norms of either the Government of India or International practice where taxation is always higher on private vehicles vis a vis public transport vehicles. • The vehicle owner takes up as his right to park anywhere adding to congestion

14. MCD- a Toothless Tiger • As per the Motor vehicle Act, the responsibility to penalize or cancel the permission for parking for the errant parking operator or enforce the guidelines rest with the Delhi Traffic Police and MCD at best can lodge an FIR against the parking operator. • The Delhi Traffic police is itself stretched & overburdened that it's not possible for them to keep check or control on parking lots, hence leading to mismanagement or over exploitation of the parking created. • No scientific data/ study or expertise available with the MCD for creating new parking spaces/ ensure the guidelines or directions are followed.

15. Vehicular parking • 45 million sqm of land needed for parking for already registered vehicles. • On an average three different car spaces are needed per car in the city, result, the current fleet occupies nearly 9-10 % of Delhi’s geographic area. • Daily registration of cars (as on 2005) generates demand for 2.5 million sqm – roughly equivalent to 310 international football fields. • The forest cover in Delhi is 11.5 %. • Iniquitous use of land: A car is allotted 23 sq m for parking. Under low cost housing scheme only 18 sq m is allotted to poor families. The car owning minority using up more and more road space and urban space. Source EPCA

16. Land is limited. Where will Delhi find more land to park cars?

17. KEY CONCERNS

18. The Parking are intricately related to the city structure, infrastructure, traffic and management. • Carriage way – road side parking: Unregulated road side parking is being resorted to by vehicle users as the owners and visitors prefer to park the vehicle close to the work place for easy access and safety of the vehicle. Parking of this type must be prohibited.

19. Foot Path Parking: Parking on sidewalks or foot paths is prohibited by the law. • The Parking on foot path by house dwellers: This limits the foot path space for pedestrians and is wide spread in both residential and commercial areas of the city. • Parking in front of the shops: Basements which are meant for parking are put to commercial use and the shops/commercial establishments are forced to park their vehicles on roads. • Parking by Automobile dealers and repair units : repair vehicles and goods are parked on the road and the sidewalks. • Parking of vehicles around schools and colleges: School buses and auto rickshaws used to transport the school children are indiscriminately parked on adjoining spaces including roads around the schools creating utter chaos and confusion. • Parking around Business establishments: have very little parking space within their property , a majority of the users park their vehicles on the adjacent sites, roads and foot paths. • Visitor parking for apartments and multi dwelling units are not available and visitor’s park indiscriminately on adjacent areas, foot paths and on the roads.

20. Parking at defined lots: The defined parking lots in the city are not effectively utilised. Today, at some places unauthorised fee collection is carried out. • PPP initiatives not fully effective: Under the PPP initiative, the development of commercial use was allowed as a concession for improving the viability of the project. Though a novel concept, it has resulted in generation of traffic and private vehicles by the commercial space. This has not served well for meeting the demand for parking.

21. The creation of parking envisaged are miniscule numbers compared to the overall demand. • Commercial vehicles such as the Lorries, mud tippers and others have no space for the parking in the city. The transport Lorries are parked alongside the highways • The lack of truck terminals and associated facilities allows the vehicles to enter the city, adding to the congestion. • Small & non-motorised vehicles such as push carts, hand carts have no space reserved close to the communities. The EWS and informal sector are forced to park their vehicles on the road, sidewalks. • Auto rickshaws park their vehicles as per their convenience and short parking also impacts the smooth flow of traffic and creates accidents. People are allowed to take a rickshaw anywhere and alight at will.

22. The private bus parking is unregulated and the space requirement for buses is inadequate. The “spill over of the bus” leads to crowding and is not convenient to the user or to the vehicles passing on the road. • The cabs and taxis, private mini bus which operate on contract are found to be parked at places convenient to the owners, often on civic amenity sites, park areas or any disused private land. These will need to be regulated. • Individual taxi owners, etc park their vehicles on the road / sidewalks during the night.

23. Summary: • The results of such unregulated parking of vehicles have led to the following concerns: • Congestion on roads and obstructing the smooth traffic flows. • Foot paths & sidewalks encroachment leading to reduction of space to pedestrians. • Extended Parking hours and indiscriminate parking: The Vehicle owners of commercial establishments, the owners of cab taxis and buses park their vehicles at places for long duration and mostly in haphazard manner. • Vandalism and safety: Most of the parking lots are unregulated and safety provisions are unavailable. The vehicles can be subjected to vandalism and theft. • Loss of revenue: The potential revenues accrual from Parking fees and charges are unavailable to the urban local body/ Government. The unauthorised collection of fees is rampant and is of nuisance. • The Parking and congestion, in general lead to pollution of air and increased noise levels. • The Parking problem directly affects the “Quality of life”

24. OVERALL PRINCIPLES OF THE PARKING POLICY

25. Parking should be managed so that it supports the City’s Strategic outcomes for economic development, urban development, transport, environmental, social and recreation, and cultural wellbeing.

26. Parking also has the equally important role of supporting a better land transport system for the city that is integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable

27. Street space is a scarce resource and priority for use for parking needs to be considered against other uses and depends on the location, type of street, time of day and day of week

28. Revenue from parking needs to reflect the parking policy and the city’s strategic direction. Pricing is an effective tool in maintaining a certain level of availability of the on-street spaces. However, the price of a parking space needs to continue to recognise the cost of supplying and maintaining the road and street space asset. This should be communicated to the community to foster greater awareness and understanding of the rationale for charging for parking.

29. FACTORS EFFECTING THE POLICY

30. Economic Development • Parking should support the city’s retail, commercial and tourist sectors through the provision of adequate parking spaces at appropriate times and in appropriate locations • Users of the parking system should be provided with real time information on parking availability, especially for the off-street parking buildings • Other uses of the public road space (such as bus only lanes, outdoor seating, community parks etc.) contribute to the city's vibrancy and vitality and support the city's economic base. However, an assessment of any on-street parking spaces that are affected will need to be undertaken, to balance the needs of all users in that location. This will also be the approach taken for requests to remove parking outside certain buildings for security reasons.

31. Urban Development and Transport • Management of commuter parking should focus on a balanced approach, including short term parking, park and ride, and park and walk • Parking should support a compact city approach and to promote the use of public transport – especially for commuters • The demand for parking should be influenced by the facilitation of effective sustainable transport solutions, such as public transport, walking and cycling • Parking areas should be well designed to accord with the principles of the Urban Design Protocol and safety guidelines such as ‘Crime Prevention through Environmental Design’ (CPTED) • Parking spaces for motorbikes to be provided in appropriate locations • Additional provision for cycle parking will be provided

32. Environmental • Parking should support the compact city approach and promote the efficient use of the road space resource to achieve sustainability objectives (such as allocating road space for buses at peak times on appropriate routes, identifying spaces for the use of car sharing clubs and cycle parking) • The contribution that vehicles make to climate change is acknowledged. • transport accounts for 32% of the city’s CO2 emissions (with 78% of this figure being attributed to the private car), and • measures are needed to mitigate this risk towards achieving a Carbon Neutral vision.

33. Social and Recreation • Parking plays an important role in ensuring that city communities have access to social infrastructure. Therefore adequate parking spaces at community facilities and destinations, at appropriate times and in appropriate locations should be provided • For some users of the transport network, the car is the most, and sometimes the only viable travel mode. It is necessary to recognise this and to make spaces available close to appropriate locations for these users, for example through Mobility Parking schemes.

34. Cultural Wellbeing • Parking should support events, festivals, exhibitions and concerts in the city through the provision of adequate parking spaces at appropriate times and in appropriate locations. This needs to be balanced with using public road space to encourage the use of sustainable transport to travel to and from these events.

35. OBJECTIVE OF PARKING POLICY

36. “The overarching objective for parking is to progressively reduce the demand for parking and facilitate organized parking for all types of vehicles” • The formulation of the Policy will be the starting point for the making of programmes and specific plans. Parking demand emanates from consumer behaviour and user requirements and location of markets, utility centres & all public places.

37. The strategic intent of the policy is to: • Effective management of Parking demand • Reduction of congestion especially at junctions, vantage points and nodes, to avoid the diversion of open (Public) utilitarian spaces for parking • Regulating the growth of vehicle numbers (by framing appropriate rules). • The Parking policy also attempts to cover the following objectives: • Relieving the congestion on roads • Safety of pedestrians • Safe and secure parking – this includes short and long stays. • Integration of Parking with the Public transport facilities • To promote private participation including private initiatives and project implementation • To enable appropriate pricing for the various parking facilities.

38. STRATEGY MATRIX TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES

41. Delhi needs a paradigm shift from personal vehicles to public transport system… SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

42. Policy Recommendations: 1. PLANNING AND DESIGN

43. Integrate the land use and transportation at planning and implementation levels. This should include interventions to reorient land use to direct /influence transport demand. • The zoning of land use such as commercial business areas , Mixed land use developments , high intensity land uses are to be centred around the transportation hubs with adequate parking. • The Land use primarily depend on the management of the Floor Area Ratio. Transportation hubs such as Metro stations, railway stations, transit centres must be accorded with higher FAR within specified guidelines. • Areas with high density of population must be serviced with public transportation. • Projects taken up by MCD or any other agency (private or public) that induces a large vehicular traffic needs to include transportation needs (To make reservations of space for parking, commuter facilities, etc). • Periodic reviews of plans and projects are required to ensure proper compliance of parking norms is met.

44. Emphasis on Parking in Planning and the regulatory documents to allow multiple level and multi use parking lots at various transit points, commercial centres, such as railway stations, Metro, etc. • The Key transportation hubs with interchange facilities between transportation systems need strengthening at the plan and implementation. The air space and the below grade area should be promoted effectively for parking facilities, for commuter facilities. • For instance- Bus station over rail station with public parking facility above can be designed. • Parking facility shall be provided at transit management centres of DTC Depots, Local Bus Terminus, Interstate Bus terminus and Metro stations.

45. Mitigate the effects of the newly introduced High intensity/ Higher FAR land uses • It is recommended that authority responsible for implementing the parking policy provide assistance to the project developers during the course of design, engineering and implementation so as to comply with the regulations. • The approvals for such projects should be carried out through a consultative approach. • High intensity land uses shall provide mandatory accommodation for additional parking facilities either at the basements, multi level or through sharing of facilities (both Govt and Private). • In case of non provision, the developers/ owners of the said facilities shall pay an impact fee to MCD. • In such cases, MCD and Police should facilitate parking for the users through a co-ordinated plan.

46. Devise progressive Building byelaws by adapting regulations to meet the ground realities – Old city areas, urban villages, commercial centres, etc. • Many of the Building renewal projects cannot accommodate parking in their plans due to the constraints of space within the site. In such cases, equivalent parking impact fee based on the intensity of the use shall be levied and authorities will facilitate common parking infrastructure. • The old areas of the city do not have enough open spaces for accommodating at grade parking. Vehicle free zones may be planned in consultation with different stakeholders. Wherever feasible multi level parking /underground parking can be created. • In case of old city areas – disused government facilities such as civic amenities may be used for parking.

47. Accommodate the Mixed Land use regulations and mitigate the “negative externalities” by area level planning and introducing tax for the impact of the mixed land use. • The Area level planning shall be carried out to provide for common parking, creation of pedestrian zones and mitigate the effects of indiscriminate parking. • The owner / allottee / resident / user of the plot / dwelling unit under the mixed land use shall also be liable to pay one time charges for development of parking and such rate for one ECS per 50 Sq. mtr. of plot area shall be as under. Sl.no Description Amount (INR) 1 First Ring 1,00,000 2 Second Ring 75,000 3 Third Ring 50,000

48. Introduce planning tools to effectively respond to area level requirements. • The current practice of preparing the Master plan is to serve at the City level. As the scale is very large and restricted to land use zoning plan, it cannot fully guide and serve the “area level requirements”. It is necessary to introduce an intermediate level of planning and this could serve for redevelopment purpose as well. • Insist on Safety and protection of Residential neighbourhood character whenever community or private parking is provided in these areas. • Nuisance, Fire and Noise effects are to be dealt in a comprehensive manner during sanction and approval of public buildings and facilities in the residential areas. Continuous monitoring of the areas and regulation is necessary.

49. Insist on optimal Parking infrastructure and encourage management in the new developments. • All newly developed layouts by DDA and private developers shall make necessary plans for the parking infrastructure and management. • In case of large developments, where standards and norms are only a pre-requisite, the provision and management will need to be carried out in consensus /negotiation manner with project promoters. • Parking near notified or declared areas: • Areas which are of historical heritage and archaeological importance shall have stipulations for parking in light of the sites’ / structures’ significance / importance. Visual, aesthetic and environmental aspects shall be given importance.

50. Parking norms for Low income housing and EWS housing : • As the low income and EWS housing need space for parking their push carts, auto rickshaws, hawking carts, horse carts, tricycles, etc, developments taken up afresh and existing developments shall be provided with adequate parking. • Relaxation on the parking norms shall be provided. • Bicycles parking lot • Bicycle parking should be mandatory in all facilities • Atleast 15 % of the two vehicular parking space reserved in all building plans should be reserved for the bicycles.