Increase in personal vehicle usage leads to parking woes in Chennai

Another reason for congestion is the rise in placing no parking sign boards, mud bags, barricades etc by residential society and business offices on public roads. This is causing severe inconvenience to both pedestrians and motorists alike, say traffic police

One of the reasons for the traffic congestion on city roads is the rise in vehicle population over the last five decades, especially in the last 10 years.

According to data, vehicle population has been increasing in the State every year. As on April 1, 2024, it touched 3,71,83,661. Of these, over 54,37,270 are on city roads resulting in congestion and causing delay in commuting. The use of personal vehicles, such as cars and two-wheelers, has phenomenally increased in recent times. Compared to the 1970s, the automobile population has gone up manifold over the years and has worsened traffic snarls reducing the average vehicle speed on the city roads. There is a clear difference in the past 10 years with the huge proliferation of two wheelers and four wheelers in the city.

“In 1970, the share of two wheelers use was 2% in the transportation system, buses were 42% and trains 12%. In 2008, the share of buses was 26%, two-wheeler was 25%, car was 6%, train was 5%. In 2018, the share of buses became 23% and two-wheelers rose to 30% while cars increased to 7%. In 2023, the bus use dwindled to 16%, train 3.7%, metro rail was 1.5%. The two-wheelers constituted 34% and the cars 6.7%,” said I. Jeyakumar, Special Officer of the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA).

In the expanded Chennai Metropolitan Area, the share of two wheelers is 52%. Over the years, the number of suburban trains has not increased, and neither has the number of buses. The public transport supplies are less.

For example, people have migrated to other areas like Mudichur or Manimangalam or outside the city limits and settled, have bought two-wheelers or cars to commute to their offices. This leads to traffic congestion, said an urban planner.

Six months ago, CUMTA conducted a survey and revealed that 7,000 two-wheelers, 4,000 cars and autos and 192 buses pass in one hour during peak hours. Thsi shows the magnitude of the problem.

Encroaching public space

The vehicles, particularly cars, which are being parked at every street, is encroaching public space. The situation has worsened as neighbours often quarrel over parking space and leading them to approach police to settle their disputes or action.

A senior traffic police officer said, “We receive too many calls on disputes over parking space. The city, with a population of over 1.5 crore, now has 8,95,770 cars on its roads in addition to moving cars from other places in the State. The city has 40,85,074 two-wheelers besides 2,09,927 transport vehicles such as stage carriers, contract carriages and goods carriages.”

Avoidable inconvenience

There is a rising trend of residential houses and business offices placing ‘No Parking’ sign boards, mud bags, barricades, and other obstructions on public roads. This practice is causing significant inconvenience to the public and creating unnecessary obstruction for pedestrians and motorists alike, say traffic police.

Even though the Greater Chennai Police has warned that no individual, residential society, or commercial entity is permitted to place ‘No Parking’ signs, barricades, or any similar obstruction on public roads without prior authorisation from the competent authorities, unauthorised occupancy of public spaces, including the roadside, for private parking or other purposes, is illegal.

As per Section 116 of the Motor Vehicle Act 1988, only the government authorities have the power to erect the traffic signs. Hence, as per the High Court orders, strict action would be taken against those who are found violating public roads by placing unauthorised signage or objects. Despite the warning, unauthorised ‘No Parking’ signs, barricades, and other obstructions stay put at several places.

Citizens are instructed not to park their vehicles on roads in a manner that causes inconvenience or obstructing others. The parking of cars on flyovers during heavy rain and floods expose the lack of adequate parking facilities.

During festival seasons or weekends, the entry and exit points of the city witness huge numbers of cars. The congestion is beyond control or regulation, said a retired police officer.

Public transport is the solution

Experts suggest that promoting and increasing the modes of public transport system is the solution to the woes of traffic congestion and parking problems in the city. Divya Senthil, Senior Researcher of Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group, suggested the promotion of the public transport system.

“Public transport should be made an appealing alternative to using private cars or bikes. Restricting parking spots in urban areas and levying higher parking fees for motorised private vehicles should be done. Some cities in the US experimented with congestion pricing and the cities in Europe also experimented with it. It got a very mixed response. Push more people to use the public transport system compared to private vehicles. That should be made in such a way that using public transport is the most convenient and easiest option.”

K.P. Subramanian, former professor, Department of Urban Engineering, Anna University said Singapore Model is an internationally renowned one to curb the car population. Singapore’s Vehicle Quota System (VQS) is a landmark scheme since the 1990s to cap the number of new vehicles registered every month.Under the VQS a car buyer must first obtain a license, officially referred to as a Certificate of Entitlement (COE). The COE is released through open bidding as per the permissible VQS. In the United States, there is no restriction to buy cars. However, the parking regulations are very stringent. No public or private institutions in the US provide any parking space. All employees use only on-street metered parking with dynamic pricing and time-limited parking, which costs prohibitively.

“The objective of the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006, in India is to ensure the movement of more people in fewer vehicles in the least time. On an average, a car occupies 13.5 sq.m of road space per person/km while a bus occupies only 1.2 sq.m of road space per person/km. Therefore, the cars cause congestion and must pay congestion tax, similar to what polluters pay. Controlling the car population warrants unconventional and out-of-the-box solutions.The London Congestion Tax 2003 introduced by the Mayor of London is a successful example. It increased the ridership in buses and trains by 40%, reduced traffic congestion by 18%, about 30 % of car journeys avoided the zone and 25% shifted to car sharing. Will Chennai take a leaf out of London’s models,” said Mr. Subramanian.

More buses needed

Two crore trips are happening per day. Office commuters are 60% of the trips. Mr. Jeyakumar said, “We have to promote public transport. People should use public transport for office trips and can use their personal vehicles in case of a medical emergency or function. That is why we are recommending that MTC should pump in more buses. In the coming days, more buses should be in the system. When more buses are there, the crowding will be less. If air-conditioning is added, the comfort level will increase, and more people will prefer the buses.”

The CUMTA feels that once Metro Rail’s Phase II is commissioned, there will be a perceptible change in the situation.

When Phase III is implemented, the suburban train lines can be added in the outer areas. The CUMTA has asked Southern Railway to operate additional suburban trains on existing lines and increase the frequency of services from 12 minutes to seven. They have also been asked to introduce air-conditioned coaches in suburban trains.

A new parking policy is coming soon and the parking management should be handled by a single agency in a professional manner, the CUMTA has suggested.

Published - December 17, 2024 10:50 pm IST