With the increasing vehicular population in all the major cities, PARKING WOES is becoming a significant problem for all the local government bodies. Finding a parking space often leads to frustration, time wasted circling for spots, and illegal parking practices, primarily caused by inadequate parking infrastructure and a growing number of car owners compared to available parking spaces.
Key factors contributing to parking woes in big cities:
- High vehicle ownership, more people can afford cars, and the demand for parking spaces exceeds the supply.
- Limited space- Urban areas have limited land available to build dedicated parking structures.
- Poor urban planning- Many older cities were not designed with modern traffic patterns and parking needs in mind.
- Inadequate public transportation- when public transport is unreliable or not readily accessible, people are more likely to drive, further escalating the parking issues.
Common parking woes experienced in big cities:
- Circling for parking spots- spending significant time driving around for an available parking space.
- Illegal parking- Parking in restricted areas like sidewalks, fire hydrants, or double parking due to lack of available spaces.
- Parking fees- High cost associated with parking in designated areas, especially in busy city centres.
- Congestion- Traffic jams caused by vehicles circling for parking spots.
- Parking lot disputes- Conflict between drivers over available parking spaces.
Urban parking problem 1: Inefficient utilisation of existing parking spaces– The fundamental urban parking problem is poor utilisation of available parking infra-and that means wasted time, money and resources for everyone involved. That’s why cities need to find a way to ensure that there are adequate parking spots to accommodate its citizens vehicles while also ensuring that those spaces are utilized effectively.
Smart parking solution 1– Parking Management System (PMS) allow cities to collect data on all aspects of their parking infrastructure including occupancy rates, duration of stay, and location. This information can be used to build new parking spaces, and how existing spaces should be utilized. For instance, they can help optimize the use of existing parking resources by monitoring occupancy rates in real-time and adjusting pricing as needed. This will ensure that there are enough spots available while also maximizing revenue from paid parking.
Urban parking problem 2: Searching for a place to park wastes a lot of time– In urban cities, you have to drive around, searching for an available parking spot, while keeping an eye out for other vehicles and to ensure you are not breaching any rules.
Smart parking solution2– Provide real-time parking availability by employing sensors or camera detection system- The sensors can put in the pavement of each parking space to detect the presence of cars, while the video detection system employs a camera to monitor and report availability of the whole parking lot. To provide information about parking spot availability , a smart phone app, online portal, or on-site terminal can be used. Drivers can take advantage of this information.
Urban parking problem 3- Inflexible parking payment regulation and manual charging– Many cities have parking system where thee driver has to pay parking charges by time. The problem is that it is difficult to predict for how many hours you will away from your vehicle. There are also parking lots where payment is still made in cast to the attendant at the gate, which not only but also slows down the flow and wastes time
Smart parking solution 3-Enable drivers to pay for parking charges by phone, QR code, or online using automated systems. By this method you only pay for the amount of time the car is parked. The time is noted when you enter the parking lot and while exiting you pay for time your car was parked there.
The above are the main problems faced by car owners/drivers, and these are the parking woes when you are parking the car in public places or in parking lots.
Now imagine the woes a car owners face for parking their car at the place of stay or residence.
- In old areas of some cities the building do not have adequate parking space inside the compound for all the residents, so many residents are forced to park their car on the road outside their residence.
- In most of the big cities, even new housing societies which are built or being built, offer limited parking spaces. If you have more than one car in your family then you had it, getting 2nd car park in small societies is a daunting task.
- In the bigger housing complexes, the parking woes are mostly sorted out as the bigger societies have more parking spots, and they can allot multiple parking slots to one flat owner.
To solve the parking problems in big cities, many housing/commercial projects build multi level basements for car parking, and if the basements can not be constructed that first few floors of the high rise buildings are reserved for car parking.
Recently Maharashtra Chief Minister issued a statement that the government is considering a proposal that cars will not be sold to the resident of some major cities in the state, unless they give the proof that they have a car parking slot allotted to them for car parking. This is a good proposal but how it can be implemented is to be seen.
The other idea which is gaining popularity in big cities is to share rides. That means people having their offices in the same area, share their ride while going to work in the morning and returning to their home in the evening. This reduce the congestion on the roads, and the need for several car parking slots can be reduced.
Secondly government has to work harder on mass transport systems like Metro trains in the cities, which can reduce congestion on the roads.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
3rd March 2025