BHUBANESWAR:THE Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) has floated a request for proposal to develop a detailed parking policy and master plan to manage parking in the City in a scientific way.
The new parking policy is expected to guide the planned parking facilities so that those can be in line with the city’s urban transit objectives and integrated with the city’s development plans.
One of the fastest growing cities in the country, Bhubaneswar’s population has increased by 30 per cent in last decade. The city, which has a population of around 10 lakh is expected to touch 20 lakh by 2030.
As per the comprehensive development plan, around 49 per cent of the registered vehicles in the city are two-wheelers and 11 per cent cars. The city has added almost three lakh vehicles with a growth rate far above the national average in the last five years.But, lack of parking facilities is emerging as a critical issue as 90 pc of authorised public parking spaces in the city are on-street, occupying valuable road space and worsening road congestion and safety.
“Rapid growth of city’s population has led to an increase in urban mobility. BSCL aims to develop a two-pronged approach to address the parking issues by engaging consultancy services for preparing the policy,” said CEO of Smart City R Vineel Krishna.Once formulated the policy would help identify areas of intervention, stakeholders and their responsibilities, recommendations to guide development and management for the effective implementation. It will also set the timelines for the implementation of recommendations in phased manner.
Before the policy is put in place a parking management plan will be prepared to assess the existing parking scenario in the city, identify existing parking issues and develop a phase-wise plan to manage existing and future parking demand and supply (on-street and off-street).The BSCL has already started working on two sites along the busy Janpath to develop two multi-level car parking facilities to lessen the burden of on-street parking along its major arterial road around Saheed Nagar, Unit I and Unit II areas.
There are also plans as per the Smart City proposal to implement non-motorised transport aspects into projects like Smart Janpath by including dedicated bicycle tracks besides the ambitious plan to have a public bicycle sharing system in the city.The city bus modernisation plan envisioning addition of 200 more buses in the first phase ahead of upcoming Odisha Men’s World Cup Hockey 2018 would also help the city in having an efficient public transport network and lessen the burden on personal transport arrangements.
Development plan
Parking management plan will be prepared to assess the existing parking scenario in the city
City bus modernisation plan envisions addition of 200 more buses in first phase
49 pc of registered vehicles are two-wheelers & 11 pc are cars
3 lakh vehicles added to the city roads
Lack of parking facilities emerging as a critical issue
90 pc of authorised public parking spaces in the city are on-street