VIJAYAWADA: Motorists can bid adieu to their parking woes as Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has tapped Chennai-based Smart Parking India Private Limited to introduce smart parking management system on a pilot basis at 20 locations under ‘on-street’ and ‘off street’ categories. Vehicle parking has been a constant problem for motorists who visit Eluru Road, Mahatma Gandhi Road, One Town and Governorpet. Currently, the city has around 50 parking lots at various locations for twowheelers and four-wheelers, offering services at `10 and `20.
The civic body has come up with smart parking concept to curb traffic menace on busy stretches and avoid fleecing commuters by swindlers. According to VMC estate department officials, motorists can access information about available parking space before they start from home. As part of the smart parking technology, the surface of the pavement will be fixed with vehicle detection sensors which will detect the presence of vehicles and send data to the central server.
The server will sent information of vacant space to customers through a mobile app. Motorists will have to download the mobile application from the Play Store through which they can check parking space and book a slot, following which they will have 10 minutes to occupy the space before it lapses. Payment can be made through the application itself. However, motorists can also park in a slot without prior booking. Speaking to TNIE on Saturday, VMC estate officer Ch Krishna Murthy said that both technical and financial bids for the tender have been finalised.
The tender will develop the infrastructure and the mobile application at a cost of `2.25 crore. The parking tariff for three hours for two-wheelers will be `10 and for four-wheelers is `20. After three hours, the motorists have to shell out extra money to avail the service. “The facility will be launched by VMC in the next few weeks after a formal inspection by traffic advisory committee,’’ said Krishna Murthy.