PAY-N-PARK PROBLEMS TACKLED BY TECH……Linah Baliga
BMC To Introduce Hand-Held Electronic Devices At Its Parking Lots To Monitor Car Details,Calculate Charges
BMC To Introduce Hand-Held Electronic Devices At Its Parking Lots To Monitor Car Details,Calculate Charges
Parking lot attendants,who charge by the whim,pack in more cars than feasible,and fleece when slots are fewer,will soon be trounced by technology that the BMC plans to introduce.
It proposes to set up one centralised server,which will store data recorded by hand-held devices at each of its 120 pay-andpark lots in the city and ensure that motorists are not overcharged.The civic body will make it compulsory for contractors to have the hand-held device which will be used every time a car enters or leaves a parking lot.It will also help find out if any stolen car is parked in the parking lot.
Additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta said the move will bring in more transparency in the pay-and-park system in the city.Its a smart handheld electronic machine which will be directly connected to a centrally located server on a realtime basis.The electronic device will record the number of cars parked,the make of the car,date,the time it enters and leaves.A receipt will be automatically generated which will record the exact time for which the car was parked, he said.
Contractors wont be able to overcharge as a server based receipt will be given to the car owner and time will be calculated automatically, said an official from the BMCs traffic department.
This proposal is in its final stages.It will fundamentally improve the pay-and-park system.It is also done in an endeavour to curb corruption,after BMC received several complaints from motorists about contractors overcharging them.Some even complained about more cars being parked in the parking lot.This system will help us to know the exact number of vehicles in the parking lot or even if any car parked is a stolen one, Gupta added.
The BMC is currently in the process of finalising an agency which will handle the system for itfrom setting up the centralised server to providing the hand-held devices.
The BMC also proposes to issue a parking card for car owners.The same card can be used for paying parking charges and toll too.This card will help motorists save time,as they wont have to queue up to pay.It will be a preloaded card and the amount will be automatically deducted from the card,every time the car is parked, informed Gupta.
Motorists Common Complaints
* Overcharging by contractors,especially in Fort area
* Attendants allow more cars to be parked than slots free
Highlights Of New System
* Centralised server to provide parking solution
* Contractors will have a hand-held device to record the make of the car,date,incoming and outgoing time
* Motorists can get a parking card from where the amount will be automatically deducted each time they park
Citizens Efforts
* Marine Drive Residents Association,is the only residents association managing a pay-and-park system for the BMC,since 2006.It has appointed 10 people to run the pay-and-park zone near Marine Drive promenade
HOPE AT HAND
CHANDRESH SHAH – MEMBER | MARINE DRIVE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
Its a common practice everywhere to overcharge motorists.We hope this proposal is sincerely implemented by the BMC,as there were many payand-park projects in the past,which never took off
JAMSHED MISTRY – ADVOCATE | BOMBAY HIGH COURT
Any system that ensures transparency is good,as it will be like a mechanised toll system.It will leave no scope for overcharging by contractors.Ive observed that on a couple of occasions the contractors arbitrarily state an amount,by just looking at the watch
PRITI SHAH – ADVOCATE
Usually,whenever there is an increased demand for parking space,especially in Fort area,the contractors men tend to make an extra buck.The proposal by BMC should hopefully solve the problem in crowded areas like Nariman Point,Fort and Fountain where the demand for parking space is acute
ASHOK DATAR – TRAFFIC ANALYST
This idea is welcome and its a small step in the right direction.But substantial issues need to be addressed first.BMC should first mark the parking lots.They shouldnt allow parking on arterial roads and no free parking should be allowed anywhere