Kochi's Burgeoning Parking Woes Zeenab Aneez

The only thing more frustrating than driving on MG Road in during peak traffic hours is reaching your destination only to find all the parking spaces occupied.

It does not take a scholar in urban planning to realize that Kochi is facing a severe transport crisis. Poor connectivity, bad quality of roads, congestion, air and noise pollution, lack of public transport amenities...the list is endless. Somewhere in this chaos is a small, but significant variable - PARKING.

The issue of lack of parking space is seen as one having only a negligible effect on the quality of urban transport and is often overlooked during the planning stage. Even when plans are made, it is often subject to a one-sided approach and seen as a problem that can only be solved by providing more parking spaces. But is it really that simple?

Using private transport has both monetary or 'out-of pocket' costs and hidden social costs. While monetary costs of fuel, tolls and parking charges are borne directly by the user, the social costs are externalised and borne by the non-driving public in the form of congestion from increased vehicular traffic, environmental costs of air and noise pollution and reduction in pedestrian space; to name a few.

Since only a fraction of the population (a mere 23 per cent)1 uses private transport, an efficient transport policy should aim at internalizing these costs as much as possible so that they do not spill over to other commuters. Appropriate parking charges are seen as a very important tool to do so.

In most major cities across the world, the cost of motor vehicle parking plays a major role in managing demand for private modes of transportation. In , and more specifically in Kochi, parking charge is the last issue on our minds. The reason being free and unrestricted parking everywhere in the city! To make a broad comparison, the daily parking rate in Midtown New York is $40, while parking in Kochi comes free of cost. As a result, commuters park their vehicles anywhere they want, for as long as they want, in whatever angle they choose to. In other words, Kochi has no parking infrastructure whatsoever.

In all parts of the city, cars and bikes are lavishly parked on the streets. These are common to both main and arterial roads, and save for the occasional 'No Parking in Front of the Gate' signs; no restrictions are placed on these spaces. In a few cases, parking area is provided in front of shops, but this usually encroaches into pedestrian space and is only for customers. In other places, drivers make use of open spaces to park their vehicles. Unless the owner of this space charges for parking, it is free.

All things considered, there is a dearth of parking spaces in the city and a proper parking plan is the need of the hour. This is the responsibility of the town planning authorities. The creation of ample off-street parking facilities is the suggested remedy to this problem. Parking complexes with multi-storied parking facilities are very popular in cities like Singapore and are adopted to an extent in metro cities in India; the difference being that in India this is a wholly private venture and has little to do with transport infrastructure. Its scope is restricted to providing parking space for employees, residents or customers. However, due to exorbitant costs and limited land resources, providing such a facility is not feasible, and, in some places, impossible.

On-street parking space, on the other hand, is already available in most places, but as mentioned earlier, there is no system that regulates it. Hence, before we think about providing off-street parking facilities, we must consider the available spaces and evolve a system that will lead to efficient usage of this space. In Kochi, the planned, off-street parking facilities are only offered by profit-seeking private parties like Seemati, Jayalakshmi Silks, Oberon Mall and Shenoys. These, too, are restricted to customers, who are rarely charged for using it. However, an important lesson is to be learnt from one of them.

The parking system followed in Seemati is rather interesting. The store provides a fairly large ground for parking. A deposit of Rs 500 is taken from potential customers to park their cars in the given space. This amount is reimbursed at the shop's counter; irrespective of whether or not a purchase is made. The amount is collected to ensure that customers do not park their cars here and visit other shops. This controls the demand for this parking space.

Let's look at MG Road. Being the most developed commercial area in the city, MG Road is a 4.9 km shopper's paradise. High-end stores like Wills Lifestyle, Levis, Mochi, Rampage, Louise Philippe and A. Geeri Pai Jewellery have their shops here. Peak-hour parking demand on this stretch amounts to the equivalent of 3,723 car spaces2. We can assume that the customer base for these stores is almost the same as for Seemati and have the capacity to pay minimum parking charges as high as Rs 40. We must also take into consideration that parking on MG Road will result in higher social costs in the form of congestion and reduction in road space. Why then is kerb parking here free and unrestricted, while parking at Seemati is regulated?

There are a few fundamental flaws in the prevalent transport system:

Parking space is assumed to be a public good. This assumption leads to the belief that free and unrestricted parking space is the right of every vehicle owner. Parking charges in our country are highly subsidized. This implies that the driving public enjoys cheap parking only by externalising their costs to the other half of the population, who does not require parking space. Hence, free or very low-cost parking benefits less than 25 per cent of commuters, while the social costs are borne by all.

Pure demand-centric planning: Parking is constantly spoken about as a 'problem' that is to be dealt with by providing a set solution. The misbelief that private transport is the most preferred mode of transport has led to plans being made solely on the basis of the forecasted demand for parking space. Such an approach does not take into consideration the fact that parking imposes both direct and indirect costs on urban transport. Considering that vehicular population is increasing at a much-higher level than road space, this will only worsen the crisis.

To see a significant change in Kochi's parking scene, one must first do away with these beliefs. Parking space is not a fundamental right.

Firstly, while it may be the responsibility of the public sector to provide a parking system, the cost of parking has to be borne by the users.

Secondly, parking, if seen not just as a problem but also as an economic activity that is subject to rational economic behaviour and has the capacity to generate income and employment, can serve as a tool to manage demand for private transport on a daily basis.

The first step must be to improve available parking spaces. This should involve:

Clear demarcating of parking spaces across the city. Setting up of an appropriate parking fee, considering not just the demand, but also the land value of the area, social costs and time for which the space is used. Using sustainable technology, such as solar power parking meters, to attain efficient regulation of spaces. Trained personnel can be hired to assist users in the preliminary stages of such facilities. The revenue generated from this parking service must be channelized to the improvement of public transit. Such a system can prove to be not just efficient, but sustainable as well. Using the pricing system and enforcement, we can reduce unnecessary demand for parking, and make optimum use of the space at a price that will internalize social costs. This will not only reduce traffic on the roads, but will also, to an extent, encourage people to shift to public modes, such as autorickshaws or buses.

A study conducted by McKinsey and Company in April 2010 states that while the share of public transport has reduced by 10 per cent since 1994, the usage of private transport in cities has shot up with a Peak Private Vehicular density at 170 vehicles per lane kilometre. This is 50 per cent above the basic limit3. Yet another study - The MV Asia study on parking in - shows that a car spends only four per cent of its life in motion and the remaining time, it is parked4.

If these figures are anything to go by, we can safely say that parking is more the problem of too many cars than too little space. Hence, it is high time we witness a more holistic approach to urban planning. 1 Corporation of Kochi [n.d.]. Traffic and Transport (online). [n.p.] Available from: http://www.corporationofcochin.net/urban_kb/Traffic%20&%20Transportation.pdf [Accessed on 15 July 2010].

2 RITES LTD. (2001) Comprehensive Study for Transport System for Area- Final Report April 2001. Kochi: Transport Department of .

3 McKinsey Global Institute . (2010) India's Urban Awakening: Building Inclusive Cities, Sustaining Economic Growth (online). [n.p.] Available from: http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/reports/freepass_pdfs/india_urbanization/MGI_india_urbanization_full_report.pdf [Accessed on 17 July 2010].

4 Mumbai Transformation Support Unit (2008). Workshop on Parking Issues and Possible Solutions in Greater Mumbai (online). [n.p.] Available from: http://www.visionmumbai.org/images/projects/report_parking%20issues.pdf [Accessed on 13 July 2010].