June 13, 2023
Every year ~2.5 million new passenger vehicles get added to Indian streets. Cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore consistently maintain a position in the top 10 most congested cities in the world. The cost of traffic congestion is alarming; a study by the Boston Consulting Group in 2018 indicated that congestion in just four major cities—Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata—costs us over Rs 1.4 lakh crore, a staggering amount.
The increasing number of personal motor vehicles on our streets not only leads to congestion and traffic jams but also encroachment on pedestrian infrastructure, increase pollution, and negatively impacts road safety and public health.
Alongside improving streets and public transport services, Travel Demand Management (TDM) measures such as parking management and congestion pricing can reduce traffic and pollution, and encourage a shift to walking, cycling, and public transport, and create safer and more liveable cities.
ITDP India recognizes the urgent need for progressive Travel Demand Management (TDM) reforms and focuses on supporting Indan cities to develop progressive policies, and plan and implement travel demand management strategies like parking management and congestion pricing.
Cities like Pune and Ranchi have pioneered this effort. Pune adopted a Parking Policy in 2018, and in 2017, Ranchi implemented a progressive on-street parking management system and a parking policy. Jharkhand also developed the Jharkhand Parking Regulations—the first in India. Through the two national programmes, cities like Surat and Chandigarh have also adopted parking policies. ITDP India is also working with cities in Tamil Nadu like Chennai and Coimbatore towards piloting parking management systems.
