This leads to parking on roads, further congesting an already congested city
The entrance to the Nepean Sea Road public parking lot is barely visible to motorists. Pics/Eeshanpriya MS
The city has 38 public parking lots, according to a report in this paper. Yet, most of these vital spaces lie unused because of a host of issues — high cost, poor access, zero or near-invisible signage and bad lighting.
Another problem is that these parking lots have become convenient long-term parking spaces for the residents of high-rises nearby, where people struggle to find space for their numerous cars within the building premises. This means visitors to these areas can barely find space or are clueless about where to park. This leads to parking on roads, further congesting an already congested city.
What this country lacks is foresight or planning based on ground realities. For instance, in the G South ward that covers Lower Parel and Prabhadevi, there are eight public parking lots within a three-kilometre radius and with a capacity of 15,000 vehicles. These parking lots, predictably, go near-empty at all times. The other lots in the city have a usage of around 40 per cent to 60 per cent. This is when most areas in the city see double-parking owing to the unavailability of parking spaces within the building premises.
As locals suggest, the authorities and contractors also need to market and publicise these spaces properly. Signage needs to be huge and along the road leading up to the parking lot. At night, these need to be lit up in bright neon lights.
Parking lot contractors say the authorities can also seek out bulk parking contracts with cab aggregators, truckers and buses that usually park on the streets at night, creating unsafe conditions for citizens.
As is evident to anyone travelling in Mumbai, parking is a major issue, so making optimum use of existing spaces in order to take the load off the roads becomes all the more vital.
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