Angular parking experiment seeks to free up Delhi’s roads

The new system, which will be enforced in coordination with Delhi’s civic bodies, is aimed at tackling congestion

The Delhi traffic police have, in a bid to cut down on bottlenecks in and around busy market areas, proposed the introduction of an angular parking system, to replace the perpendicular parking system in use across the city.

MCD workers mark parking lots under the new system. (HT Photo)

The new system, which will be enforced in coordination with Delhi’s civic bodies, is aimed at tackling congestion, police said.

In the perpendicular parking system, vehicles are parked perpendicular to the pavement. So every time a car is parked in a parking slot or is taken out, it occupies a fair amount of area on the road, disturbing the flow of traffic.

But in angular parking, vehicles are parked at an angle to the pavement. This, police said, makes it easy for drivers to park or take out their vehicles from a parking slot without disturbing moving traffic.

Special commissioner of police (traffic) Ajay Chaudhary said the decision to replace the perpendicular system was taken following suggestions by lieutenant governor VK Saxena during a review meeting last month.

“According to LG’s direction, the Delhi traffic police, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has begun the process of implementing the angular parking system in the city,” Chaudhary said.

According to police, this new system will be especially useful to cut down snarls around roadside parking slots that have been legalised by different agencies.

“People used to park vehicles on roads in a haphazard manner, which caused traffic jams. To tackle traffic congestion, MCD and NDMC turned them into authorised parking lots. It increases the revenue of the government,” said additional commissioner of police (traffic) Dinesh Kumar Gupta.

MCD operates 433 parking lots of which 13 are multilevel parking sites. Meanwhile, NDMC runs 149 parking sites. A senior MCD official associated with parking management said that wherever there is perpendicular roadside parking in place, it will be gradually converted to angular parking.

To test the new angular parking system, a pilot project has been launched at two busy markets along Aurobindo Marg — Yusuf Sarai and Hauz Khas E-block. MCD began painting the outlines of parking slots last week, and parking contractors and attendants were sensitised about the new system, officers said.

“We are regularly monitoring and reviewing the parking situation at the two places, and accordingly the new parking pattern will be implemented at other authorised parking sites across the city,” said special CP Chaudhary.

To be sure, the project hit a temporary roadblock — during a spot check on Friday, HT found that the newly painted parking lines had faded after rains. “We have asked MCD to repaint the lines. Traffic personnel have been asked to help the parking attendants enforce the new pattern,” an officer said.

Angular parking is in use in three cities — Pune, Vasco Da Gama and Guwahati.

Experts say that while angular parking takes up more space, it is easier on the driver as it increases manoeuvrability. “So, time taken to park reduces and there is easier discharge, which reduces congestion. It may work in the busy market areas,” said S Velmurugan, chief scientist and head of traffic engineering and safety division, Central Road Research Institute.

Retired IPS officer Muktesh Chander, who was the Delhi Traffic Police chief between 2014 and 2016, also advocated for angular parking but said proper enforcement of the new system is a must. “...Designated boxes should be painted at parking sites, and the concerned agencies should ensure that parking contractors and attendants are not allowing vehicles to park beyond the boxes. But the reality is that contractors and attendants occupy undesignated spaces for maximum profit, and it’s all happening under the nose of the authorities,” Chander said