Parking Policy: Case Study of Delhi

Anumita Roychowdhury
Centre for Science and
Environment

Session 2A: Parking

`Urban Mobility India`
-- Ministry of Urban
Development

New Delhi, December 5-8,

1
2012
 Parking policy to reduce car bulge

The Supreme Court admits the

statement of concern. -- …..
Explosive numbers are swamping
air quality gains from first generation
action in Delhi…
EPCA 2006:-- Need parking policy
for demand management … The
‘user pays’ principle should govern
the pricing of parking…

Supreme Court directive for a

parking policy as a demand
management tool……. Formalise a
strategy to control the number of
vehicles and congestion…….

Task Force under the Chief

Secretary Delhi steering parking
policy formulation…..
 Policy opportunity at the national level…

National Urban transport policy: Provides for parking as a restraint measure.

-- Urban land is valuable. Levy high parking fee that represents value of
land occupied. Graded parking fee should recover the cost of the land.

-- This should be used as a means to make use of public transport and make it
more attractive.

-- Public transport vehicles and non-motorised modes of transport should be

given preference in parking space allocation.

-- Park and ride facilities for bicycle users

-- In residential areas byelaws need changes to free the public

carriageway….

JNNURM reform agenda demands parking reforms:

3
This is an opportunity……...
What happened in Delhi?…………

4
 First reaction to SC order …. Provide
more parking……

The draft proposals from MCD, NDMC,

Traffic Police to the Supreme Court in
2008-9
-- The common position – expand and
increase parking provisions; make more
multi-level parking to meet the growing
demand……

But why is it important to rethink parking

policy? 5
 Let us understand the parking crisis

• Parking: wasteful use of cars: For about 90 to

95 per cent of the time a car is parked. (CRRI)
• Insatiable demand for land: If demand for land
for an average car is computed -- the total cars
already use up 10% city’s urbanised area. The
forest cover in Delhi is 11.5 %. -- Daily registration
of cars is generating demand for land bigger than
310 football fields! Land is expensive and has
other opportunity costs.
• Inequitous use of land: A car is allotted 23 sq m
for parking. Under low cost housing scheme only
18-25 sq m is allotted to very poor families. The
car owning minority using up more and more road
space and urban space.
• Public land has other competing demand
• Walkways are encroached
• Urban common, green spaces, walkways at
risk
6
 Conventional planning …. Bridge the gap between
demand and supply … make more parking

14000 11601 The parking demand in the markets

12000

8090

8022
10000
Number of ECS

7713

6891
8000

5423

5343
4941
4572
4052

6000
3717

3585
3333

3194

3100
2604

2628

2176
2102

4000

1901
1762

1806
1598

1297
1217
1113

1091
2000

0
Nehru Lajpat Chandni Sadar Kamla Ajmeri Darya Krishna Karol
Place Nagar Chow k Bazar Nagar gate Ganj Nagar Bagh

Total parking supply (ECS)
Current peak parking demand (ECS)
Maximum projected demand in 2010 (ECS)*
Note: *Compound annual growth rate of
car (10 per cent) and two-wheeler (6 per
cent)
Source: Based on CRRI 2006,
Congestion and parking problems of
selected locations in Delhi, Final report,
New Delhi
7
 Cars and two wheelers dominate peak parking
demand

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
Nehru Lajpat Chandni Sadar Kamla Ajmeri Darya- Krishna Karol
Place Nagar Chowk Bazar Nagar gate ganj Nagar Bagh

Cars Two-wheelers Autorick-shaws Buses Goods vehicles Other vehicles 8

Source: Estimated on the basis of CRRI report: Congestion and parking problems of selected locations in Delhi, Final report (2006), New Delhi, p 160
 High share of on-street parking aggravate traffic congestion

100
13
90
29
80
70 61
60 76 80
87 88
in %

50
40 87
71
30
20 39
10 24 20
13 12
0
Mangalam

K G Marg
BKS Marg

Nehru
South Ex
Sarojini

Shastri

Place
Part I&II
Nagar

Park
Place

9
On street Off street
 Short term users dominate parking lots
In many sites 50 to 85 percent of users stay upto 2
hours

Parking duration

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
Car 2w Car 2w Car 2w Car 2w Car 2w Car 2w Car 2w Car 2w Car 2w

Nehru Lajpat Chandni Sadar Kamla Ajmeri Gate Darya Ganj Krishna Karol Bagh
Place Nagar Chow k Bazar Nagar Nagar

0-2 hr 2-4 hr 4-8 hr >8 hr

10
Source: Based on CRRI Study
 The key elements of parking policy…..

-- Parking management and enforcement

-- Parking provision and standards

-- Parking pricing and travel demand management strategy

-- Parking for public transport oriented development

11
Enforcement challenge……………..

12
 Enforcement: The first steps……
Find method in the
madness….Tame the chaos
MCD, NDMC in Delhi to:
-- Demarcate legal parking spaces.
Organise them well.
-- Inventorise the parking spaces. Put out
the list on the website
-- Prevent encroachment of walkways
-- Put up signages and information
systems
-- Introduce metering
-- Impose penalty
-- IT applications as necessary
Similar moves in other cities – Chennai,
Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad etc

On-street parking: A serious challenge

On-street parking cannot be eliminated.
Need to find strategies to reduce it and Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad 13
getting organised
ensure optimal use of curb side
 Good practice: All cities need to generate map
like this….

Munich
Parking zones
 No parking allowed (red)
 No parking allowed (resident parking at night)
 Alternating no parking-mixed parking (mixed parking
at night) (orange)
 Alternating mixed-short stay (all €1/h, residents free at
night) (yellow)
 Alternating resident-mixed (visitors €1/h, residents
free) (yellow) Parking zones. Source: Website City of Munich

 Altstadtring special short-stay (visitors €2,5/h, 2 h

max, residents with special permit only)

Source: GIZ 14
12/13/2012
 Need good management
But..Multi level car parks without local area management plans
….

Eg. Sarojini Nagar, New Delhi

-- MLP underutilised
-- Poor guidance and signals
-- Approach roads ill designed,
get clogged. Long queues.
-- Delays due to long retrieval
time
-- Technical hurdles and delays
-- Rebound effect – additional
parking demand from the
Multi-level car park commercial area in the MLP

-- Poor design of surface

parking
-- Poor enforcement
-- Shopkeepers’ cars dominate
-- Para transit and cycles not
integrated with parking plan
15
..…..But cars taking over public space -- Illegality
 Enforcement plan in Sarojini Nagar …….. A
non-starter

Proposal:
-- Curtail on-street parking, free up some surface
area
-- Common management for MLP and surface
parking. But developers resist
-- Rationalise and coordinate parking rates for
surface parking and MLP.
-- IT application and public information system, 16
-- management strategy for surface parking
Multi-level parking must be leveraged to
reclaim public space….

Eg. Sarojini Nagar Parked

cars adversely effects the
shopping experience

17
-- How much?

Public policy decides how much parking to

be provide ….. But how to decide?

18
 Government investments getting linked with
multilevel parking lots…..

The quirk in NUTP – “Multilevel parking complexes should be made a mandatory requirement
in city centres ….”
Cities clamouring to make multilevel parking lots….. JNNURM funds tied to them…..

State-wise approved cost (Rs crore) and projects under JNNURM

Includes multilevel parking

19
Source: CSE: Project analysis based on data provided in http://jnnurm.nic.in/
 How much parking should cities provide?
The convention: Indian cities set minimum parking norms … There is no common matrix
Delhi Master Plan 3 ECS/100 sqm in Commercial; 2 ECS/100 sqm in residential; 1.8
ECS/100 sqm in Government buildings. Kolkata and Pune specify ECS per 75 sq m;
Hyderabad – upto 60 per cent of built up area……and so on

But why other global cities with higher car ownership provide less parking in Indian
cities or cap parking supply? ………….
Shifting from minimum requirement to maximum/caps
Flexible standards: Eg. In Hong Kong parking provision is decided based on accessibility
of an area. In Tokyo parking norms in CBD lower than Delhi…..
Rigid and inflated norms create over capacity: Account for improved accessibility to
limit future expansion and reduce parking demand
– Sites may change from parking deficit to parking surplus. The parking plans must
account for the changes in parking demand with improvement in public transport. For
Eg, -- In CP parking demand dropped by 10% after introduction of metro.
– The feasibility study for Mangalam Place projects shift in modal split in favour of public
transport after metro. DMRC study shows that in Vikas Marg metro can reduce the
trips of different modes. That will indirectly impact upon parking demand.

Opt for common and shared parking. Discourage individual – private parking
20
Principles of priced parking…………

21
 Reform parking pricing

Global studies show : Indian cities have the lowest

Shifting from free to cost parking rates in the world
recovery parking rates can
reduce automobile commuting
by 10-30 per cent especially if
linked with other transportation
choices

Parking charges influence

commuting choices:
People will opt for alternatives;
delay journey to avoid peak
parking charges; or go
somewhere else……

22
 Parking pricing challenged in Delhi….

The Khan Market imbroglio….. Shoppers wanted free parking for their affluent
clientele. Contested priced parking in court….Shoppers pay license fee to
NDMC but do not charge users; Defeats user pay principle; have fixed a lower
bound fee

Shopkeepers asked how parking policy is linked with clean air

• Global examples presented……….

• Boston froze their parking requirements at a level that is only 10 per cent higher
than the 1973 level to meet the Federal clean air standards.

• Amsterdam -parking fees expanded to meet EU directives on NO2 and PM10

emissions. Car plate numbers are registered with emissions information. …

• Zurich considers total NO2 emissions when

determining the amount of parking to be allowed.

Resistance in Delhi to
parking charge
23
hike……………
 Structured parking has created pressure
for pricing reforms…..
Multi
All civic and development agencies level
parki
have proposed nearly 27 multilevel ng lot

structured parking: NDMC – 3; MCD –

19; DDA – 5

They cost a lot of money. Capital cost

vary depending on the type of
structures
-- Stack parking 16 sqm/ECS @ Rs Off street parking
1.5 lakh/parking slot
-- Conventional multi-level parking
23sqm/ECS @ Rs 4-6 lakh/parking
slot
-- Automated multi-level parking -- @
Rs 8-10 lakh/parking slot

Developers allowed 25% of the area to

be used as commercial complex to cross
24
subsidise the cost of providing parking.
 Distortions in parking rates for MLP and surface
parking

FOR CARS
Rs 20 for 2 hrs,
Rs 40 : 2-4 hrs
Rs 60 : 4-6
Rs 100 : 6-10 hrs
PETROL PUMP

EROS
Rs 250 : 24 hrs
SCOOTER PARKING

ANSAL

OVERHEAD WATER TANK

24.00
PAHARPUR BUSINESS CENTRE

6.00

6.00


Green Area
Car: Rs 10 for 12 hrs Commercial/Semi Commercial Area On-Street Parking 


2Ws: Rs 5 for 12 hrs Public Utility No On-Street Parking
No
Proposed Multilevel Parking Site


“on-street” parking



Existing Multilevel Parking 
proposed but not
implemented
 Need parity of rates between structured and
surface parking

Mumbai: Discrepancy in rates can lead to underutilisation of MLP

INOX the multiplex in Nariman Point: Before construction of MLP: No. of surface parking spaces:
140, Utilisation: 100% during office hours
After: No. of parking spaces: 540, Utilisation of MLP during office hours: 10% Parking rates are Rs 5 per
30 minutes or Rs 10 per hour.
Surface parking rates : Rs 5 per hour and Rs 3 for every additional hour.
Resolve this
New game in town: Free floor space index (FSI) to builders to builders to create free parking lots.
Ill planned. On hold.

Poor
utilization

26
Source: Mumbai Environmental Social Network
 Sarojini Nagar multi level Parking: Lessons

• This Rs 80 crore structure has huge inbuilt subsidy for car owners: The cost works
out to be Rs 10 lakh per car. Operational cost -- Rs 3 crore a year. Charge Rs 10/hour

• Developers can recover only 1.6 per cent of the operational costs from parking. In
best case utilization, the full revenue from the current parking rates can at best
recover only one-fifth of the operational costs.

• Little interest in integrated management of surface and MLP -- 98% of the earnings
for the developer from shops. Developers resist common management of the surface
parking area and MLP as that adds to investments and management complexity

• Lesson -- Make integrated local area plan conditional to construction of multilevel

parking. Need integrated management of both surface and multilevel parking, pricing
strategy for both, enforcement of legal parking, pedestrianisation of the area, and
planned improvement of public transport connectivity among others.

• CSE survey: People are willing to consider a shift to other modes only if the
minimum parking rates are three times the rate in multilevel parking: People are
willing to consider a shift to public transport only if the minimum rates for parking cross
Rs 30 per hour and much more. This is three times the rate of Rs 10 in multi-level
parking.
27
 Is Delhi prepared to hike parking charges?

Task Force under the Chief Secretary Today’s newspaper reports ….

Delhi framing parking policy………

Public notification from Transport Department

of Delhi earlier this year:

• -- Rs 30 for three hours during peak hours + Rs

20 for every additional hour or part thereof
during non-peak hour + Rs 50 for every
additional hour or part thereof during peak
hours.

• -- Rs 50 for three hours during peak hours + Rs

20 for every additional hour or part thereof
during non-peak hours+ Rs 50 for every
additional hour or part thereof during peak
hours.

• -- Rs 1500 per month for monthly permit for

residents of the area (only one vehicle to be
allowed per family/shop).

• Under discussion

28
 Principles for parking pricing

• Eliminate and minimise free parking and improve public transport access. This will
encourage people to use other forms of transport and reduce congestion.
Introduce variable parking rates according to peak hour, duration of stay; commercial
importance of areas; according to weekdays when demand is high, and weekends when low.
Higher rates for bigger vehicles
Charge convenient parking spaces higher than the inconvenient places to reduce
congestion and influence commuting choices:
Limiting parking duration for short term users can ensure higher customer turnover rates
for local businesses and also reduce local congestion and lead to more optimum use space.

• Free parking to cycles and cycle rickshaws and battery operated vehicles and public
transport vehicles. Park and ride.
One time parking fee and annual lump sum payment retrograde: This allows unlimited
use and do not reduce demand. Commuter behaviour will remain unresponsive

• Caution on liberal byelaws to create more parking: Need proper pricing

• How will government fix rates if cities move towards full cost pricing? Should rates be
market driven?
29
Parking policy to promote alternatives to cars…………

30
 How parking can be leveraged for multi-
modal integration and to improve
access?
Deploy parking innovatively to facilitate shift
to other modes
--- Park and ride facilities to improve public
transport usage – but not in the city centre

-- Public transport oriented policy in Delhi to

discourage parking within 500 meter of
Park and walk – increases
influence area of the transit nodes.
customer throughput
--- Build parking away from the busy commercial
centres and MRT nodes and connect with
NMT, IPT, PT and pedestrian ways.
-- Park and walk and park and ride in targeted
areas

31
 Parking in residential and
mixed land-use areas
Densification and mixed land use needed for
compact cities to reduce travel distances,
reduce fuel use, improve efficient use of public
transport,make cities walkable…….
But parking is a flash point in mixed land use
areas of Delhi today…..Find solution …
-- Promote shared and collective parking
instead of individual owner parking. Create
zero tolerance zone….
-- Enforce residential parking permits to be Lajpatnagar
purchased for on-street parking.

-- De-link cost of residential units from the cost Chandni Chowk

of the parking space. Pay separately for
parking spaces. Higher tax for multiple car
ownership
-- MPD 21 links vehicle license to parking
space.

-- Environment impact assessment of high 32

impact buildings
 “Parks not car parks”
Protect green areas from parking
Prevent erosion of green cover for parking provision
MCD charging one time parking rates from property owners to
create off site parking facilities …. But no space available on
the designated commercial streets…..
MCD trying to create underground parking under play grounds
and green spaces. Not allowed. Public protest.

-- EPCA: Parks / playgrounds would not be permitted to be utilized for

parking purpose as it would destroy breathing space / playground for
children.
-- Nine locations where such constructions have been allowed, are
mandated to restore 90 % of the site to flat playground conditions
with landscaping using shrubs and grasses. On the remaining 10%
land on the sides, trees will be planted. A small portion will be used
as ramp.
33
 Parking of buses and freight

This is a new flash point:

Delhi to increase its bus fleet to 11000 buses. Needs at least 200 sq
meter to park each bus!

Lack of parking space is slowing down bus purchase in Delhi

Discussing double storey parking design – but very expensive!

Similar challenges for commercial vehicle segments

34
 Whiff of change….

Aizawl in Mizoram takes the lead: Regulation and Control of Vehicles

Parking
To own and buy a car…..
• the owner of any type of motor vehicle including two wheelers shall have a
garage within his own residential or business compound or in some other
place, or a garage hired from any other person, for parking the vehicle (The
Mizoram Gazette, Vol XL, Issue No. 52, February 2011)

• Purchaser, before purchasing any type of motor vehicle including two

wheelers or the person intending to purchase any such motor vehicle shall
obtain a certificate from the ….transport department…that he has a garage,
within his own residential or business compound or in some other place, or a
garage to hire from other person, for parking the vehicle he intends to
purchase (The Mizoram Gazette, Vol XXXIX, Issue No. 295, August 2010)

High Court of Jodhpur makes availability of parking space mandatory to car

ownership. But need strategy for enforcement
35
 Parking revenue for public good

• Parking revenue to be earmarked to create dedicated urban

transport funds under JNNURM

-- Periodic license renewal pegged to the market driven

parking rates can be an important source of revenue.

-- Tax parking spaces at the same rate – if the land was used
for other developments. Offset revenue losses from the other
potential uses of the land

-- Use parking pricing revenue to fund transportation and

other local area development programmes,

-- Finance special transportation and pollution reduction

projects etc.
36
 Other countries are limiting and pricing
parking
Capping parking supply
Portland, Oregon Overall cap of 40,000 parking spaces downtown. This increased public
transport usage from 20-25 per cent in the 1970s to 48 per cent in mid 1990s.
Seattle allows a maximum of one parking space per 100 square metres at downtown office
San Francisco limits parking to seven per cent of a downtown building’s floor area
Parking pricing strategy to reduce car usage. Benefits public transport
New York: Very high parking fees and limited parking supply lowers car ownership far below
the US average.
Bogota Removed limit on the fees charged by private parking companies. The revenue goes
to road maintenance and public transit improvement.
Shenzhen: Hike in parking fees during peak hours leads to 30% drop in the parking demand.
Bremen: No free parking in city centre. Parking charges higher than public transport cost.
Barcelona– Parking revenue directed to a special fund for mobility purposes.
London: parking income channeled to transportation projects.
Strong enforcement and penalty
Tokyo: Enforcement against parking violations cuts congestion drastically . Private firms
allowed to issue tickets for parking violations. This makes on-street parking expensive.
Antwerp: parking fines are invested into mobility projects
Free up public space
Paris: Street space freed for bike sharing and trams 37
Copenhagen: Streets freed up for bike lanes etc
 Deepen public awareness about the benefits of
parking management and restraint

Public support can be stronger if people understand the benefits of parking management
Car user will benefit:
Reliable and predictable information about parking availability reduce cruising time, fuel
cost and pollution.
Efficient billing makes payment more transparent and accurate.
Chances of finding a space improves and reduces waiting time.
Decreases traffic chaos due to indiscriminate on-street parking.
Non-car user will benefit:
Protects footpaths and allow barrier free walking;
Frees up public spaces for cycle tracks, rickshaw parking, autoriskshaw-parking, play
grounds etc
Improves access to bus-stops, metro stations.
Improves safety of children, women and elderly people.
Improves visibility of shops, shopping experience and throughput of customers.
Improve overall environment, green areas and public recreational spaces.
Makes it easier for emergency vehicles like ambulances, fire trucks, police, etc. to negotiate
Urban local bodies to benefit: Public revenue generation for transportation projects
Public health and climate benefits: Reduced dependence on cars reduce air pollution, GHG
emisisons, congestion, noise level and fuel loss. 38
Build public support for parking tool that restrains car usage
 The way ahead
Devil is in detail….
• Adopt flexible parking standards and move towards maximum caps to account for
improved public transport access and reduction in personal vehicle travel.
• Integrate parking design with multi-modal integration
• More stringent controls and enforcement

• Reforms parking pricing -- Minimise free parking, restrict on-street parking, use
variable parking rates, avoid fixed annual payment, price parity between surface and
multi-level parking etc. Discard one time parking charge
• No parking on green spaces, pavement, NMT lanes etc. Non-negotiable.
• Need parking strategy for residential areas and mixed land use areas. Promote
priced, shared, common parking
• Use parking revenue for public transport, and local area improvement
• Stringent penalty on parking violations.
• Develop parking strategy for special localities like hospitals, railway station, cinemas,
shopping malls, schools, high impact events etc
• Parking strategy for buses, IPT, freight
39
• EIA of large commercial buildings to assess parking impacts and seek mitigation
Towards livable cities……

Thank You 40