Commuters prefer roads over Metro’s paid parking

Jayanagar police has registered over 140 illegal parking cases outside Metro stations in September.

Most Metro stations have a pay-and-park system available, but daily Metro commuters park their vehicles on roads beside the Metro stations, creating congestion and blocking localities. This includes stations like Jayanagar, Rashtreeya Vidyalaya, Deepanjali Nagar, and more.

“I did not know that it was illegal to park here. I just parked here because everyone else was doing so,” said Sreedhar, who had just found himself a spot to park his dark blue car amidst other neatly parked vehicles on the road beside RashtreeyaVidyalaya metro station. He said he just parked on the road because “there is no space inside the Metro’s premises and no nearby paid parking services available.”

The cost of parking a two-wheeler for a full day in the Metro’s premises is Rs. 30, while that for a four-wheeler is Rs. 60. However, some stations like Cubbon Park, Ulsoor, and MG Road have no pay-and-park system available.

“For Metro Phase One routes, we have parking for both destination and originating stations, and for Phase Two we are trying to provide parking space,” T. L. Ravi Prakash, Senior Manager at Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said. “Wherever we have space to provide parking, we are providing it. However; we want to encourage commuters to travel by public transport like BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) to reach Metro stations.”

Bangalore Traffic Police states vehicles should be parked on the road in a way that they do not cause danger, obstruction or undue inconvenience to other road users.

However, Prof. M. N Sreehari, a traffic expert and advisor, who has supervised over 2,000 projects related to Traffic Transportation and Safety said, “Vehicles outside the metro stations are parked in such a way that disrupts traffic movement, and the general commuters are troubled because of this.”

A resident of Jayanagar said she is inconvenienced because of such as they create congestion on the roads. She had complained on the Bengaluru Traffic Police’s Public Eye app, which she said requires you to upload a picture and details of the violation. It does not show the details of who is complaining.

The Motor Vehicles Act also specifies fines for illegal parking where the fine for the offence may be up to Rs. 100 and for any subsequent offence; it may extend to Rs. 300.

Chandregowda, head constable of Jayanagar Traffic Police Station said 1,675 complaints had been registered against such illegal parking in and around Jayanagar Metro Station since January this year. The total fine collection for these cases amounts to Rs. 12,54,700.

He said, “While there has been no towing of the vehicles since January because of the no towing policy, whenever a complaint is registered, our officials patrol the place and fines are immediately imposed and the vehicles are sent away.”

He further said, “142 cases of illegal parking in and around Metro stations were registered in September.” He said parking on the main road and no-parking zone invite a fine of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500, respectively.

Ravi Prakash, BMRCL senior manager said, “The BMRCL provides paid parking services. However, it is not being used as much because people have to pay for it.”

He said the interchange station, Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Metro Station, Majestic, sees a huge inflow of vehicles, and paid parking services are being completely utilized. He said that only the lesser-used Metro stations do not use parking facilities completely.

However, traffic expert Prof. Sreehari said, “The parking spaces provided by the BMRCL are inadequate, which is causing the general public to misuse the roads and hamper the traffic flow, which is affecting general commuters.”