The role of parking management in transforming transport in Delhi
Reallocating road space for walking, cycling and public transport will require managing the big elephant on our roads: on-street parking.
Delhi has the highest number of vehicles per capita in India. In 2019–2020, there were 643 vehicles per 1000 population or three vehicles per household in Delhi. This is in spite of private motor vehicles (PMVs) constituting close to one-third of work trips in Delhi and with close to half the trips (48%) being less than 5km. Simultaneously, while Delhi has a world class metro-rail system, its daily ridership was only half (52%) of the projected ridership in 2019–20.
Private motor vehicles (PMV) provide convenience to users and door-to-door travel. Car-centric cities, in general, witness high levels of pollution and road congestion. Delhi is the most polluted capital city in the world, with vehicles emissions accounting for half (51%) of its PM 2.5 alone. In addition to the environmental implications, the amount of road space allocated for motor vehicles is concerning. A high number of cars on road implies an equivalent number of parking spaces. Typically, a car occupies up to three parking slots a day (i.e. 38 sqm — the size of an apartment) and remains idle for 95% of its life.
The city of Delhi has struggled to manage haphazard on-street parking, even as off-street public facilities remain underutilized. This could be because, both are priced the same, due to which drivers choose the more convenient option of parking on the road. Compounding this situation, few on street parking locations in Delhi, as in most Indian cities are priced.
To address this issue, the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) notified the Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, 2019” (DMMPPR) to regulate on-street parking and promote sustainable modes of transport. The rules proposed the formulation of Parking Management Area Plans (PMAP) in consultation with relevant stakeholders, proposed higher pricing for on-street parking facilities and enforcement through Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS). The rules recommend that 25% of the parking revenue can be reinvested back into neighbourhood to improve access to public transport and NMT infrastructure. Currently, 16 PMAPs are being prepared across Delhi, with only one implemented in Lajpat Nagar.
Between October 2021-April 2022, the Centre for Sustainable and Equitable Cities prepared a PMAP within a 5-minute walking distance around one metro station. The objective of our study was to compare the quality of access for metro-users and private vehicles users in the vicinity of a high-quality metro-station. Our study included surveys with metro-users, personal motor vehicle users, parking counts and license plate surveys along 13 major road stretches in the area.
What we found surprised us, and perhaps explained why the metro-rail was failing in attracting public transport users. In addition to challenges in first and last mile connectivity, the vicinity of the metro-station was still designed for the convenience of private vehicle users.
We found that that 70% of metro-users walked to and from the metro-station. In fact, walking was the main mode of transport for distances up to 1.2km. However, the major roads in the area had discontinuous, broken or non-existent footpaths with 80% of the road space allocated to motor vehicles. On numerous roads, footpaths were encroached or blocked by parked vehicles.
On the other hand, parking was very convenient for PMV users with average cruising time less than 2 minutes for 87% of drivers. Additionally, 74% of drivers reported walking less than 100 meters to their destination. To compound this issue, we observed that only 30% of the major road stretches were priced, whereas the occupancy rate of a multi-level car park in the vicinity was only 32%. Clearly, something is wrong and needs to change.
The Delhi Metro-rail Corporation (DMRC) has built a network of 391 km with 286 stations. While multi-modal integration is being improved, it needs to be accompanied with on-street parking management. This will ensure that private vehicle use is regulated and discouraged around mass transit stations, and the revenue is used to improve the streets for comfortable and convenient pedestrian access. It is time to act now.
