CHENNAI: Did you know that 1,780 new vehicles are put on Chennai roads on an average per day? As per a survey by a government agency, the vehicular population in the city-transport and non-transport- is 2.237 lakh and 45.20 lakh.
However, there seems to be no move to widen carriageway, thus leading to crunch in parking space. To decongest city roads and ensure parking space, Chennai Smart City Limited (CSCL) is planning to float a parking company, which will be a wholly owned subsidiary. The proposed company, which will have officials of Chennai Smart City and Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), is likely to be headed by Managing director of CSCL M Govinda Rao.
The main objective of the company will be to decongest commercial area and ease parking problems in key areas of the city. Official sources said that financing and revenue sharing models will be prepared by Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Company after holding discussions with officials of CSCL and GCC.
The company will look at optimizing the limited space through creation of multi-level car parking. Many unutilised lands and property of GCC and government bodies will be promoted, maintained and monetised by the company. It is learnt that the government is planning to tap The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) lands in prime locations of the city as parking space.
It is learnt that the government is planning to tap The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) lands in prime locations of the city as parking space. Similarly, Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) also has a large number of parking spaces, sources said.
“The land belonging to HR&CE and GCC are located in the heart of city with route connectivity and easy accessibility. They are ideal locations for development of multi-level car parking and commercial establishments with an objective of bringing additional revenue and sustainability to its stakeholders.
Interestingly, Chennai was looking at having a parking management company after a high-level delegation visited Budapest five years ago. The delegation report then had highlighted how underground parking spaces were created in streets and busy junctions in Budapest.
Some of the features of Budapest parking management include charging vehicles for duration of parking, instead of a lump sum amount, besides having six options of paying parking fees, which include credit card, prepaid parking card, SMS and coins. Other features include charging high parking fee in the central business district.