Corporate area spaces, more residential spots for parking in Mumbai?

From use of parking spaces in corporate parks for public as private offices are now operating on a work-from-home (WFH) basis to increasing residential day and night parking in all wards to cater to increase in the demand due to WFH, the Mumbai Parking Authority (MPA) is exploring a variety of new parking options for the city based on the conclusions of a study on the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown on traffic, use of public transport, and parking demand in Metro cities, including Mumbai

From use of parking spaces in corporate parks for public as private offices are now operating on a work-from-home (WFH) basis to increasing residential day and night parking in all wards to cater to increase in the demand due to WFH, the Mumbai Parking Authority (MPA) is exploring a variety of new parking options for the city based on the conclusions of a study on the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown on traffic, use of public transport, and parking demand in Metro cities, including Mumbai.

MPA is now in talks with as many corporate spaces, business parks and business districts, to take them on board and use their parking spaces for public parking. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The authority also plans to restudy peaks of demand in parking due to staggered working hours offices and has suggested use of school and office buses, which are currently not in use, to increase the bus fleet in the city.

The study, ‘Impact of Covid-19 on mobility in Indian cities’, was independently conducted by a group of city-based transport planners via online platforms in eight Indian cities, including Mumbai, in May and June 2020. It was published by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Bulletin, in mid-December 2020. Nishant Sawant, one of the transport planners who conducted the survey in the city, is also working with the MPA. Hence, the MPA has decided to examine the findings of this study to augment parking in the city.

The survey, which researched public opinion via surveys on transport mode choice, public transport ridership, and vehicular ownership in a post-pandemic scenario, revealed that 36% of the respondents who use public transport are likely to shift to private mode of transport post-Covid-19. Moreover, 39% of the respondents who use public transport and do not own a vehicle at present are willing to purchase a vehicle for commute. The MPA has concluded that this will incrementally add to the demand for parking space in the city in the coming months. A total of 169 respondents were from Mumbai.

Sawant said, “At least 39% of those who use public transport at present are willing to buy new vehicles for the commute. This was a new and significant finding for us. Most of them are from middle-income families, and used public transport in pre-Covid times.”

MPA is now in talks with as many corporate spaces, business parks and business districts, to take them on board and use their parking spaces for public parking. Shishir Joshi, CEO and founder of Project Mumbai, and a member of the MPA, said, “As a lot of people are working from home and will continue to do so until mid of end of 2021, parking spaces in corporate and business parks can be used for public parking. Also, with offices exploring staggered work timings, our peak-hour demand for parking will now change.”

The civic body has provided 30 public parking lots and 14 amenity plots under the policy guidelines, amounting to 25,948 parking spaces. The BMC is calculating the latest number of available on-street parking spaces.

MPA noticed that as most people are working from home, their vehicles remain unused, and require residential parking through the day, contrary to the earlier scenario, where people would take their vehicles out to work for nine or more hours per day, and residential parkings would be vacant. This has increased the need to have more residential parking lots. Assistant Commissioners of all wards of the city are now tasked with exploring day/night residential parking space. The MPA will also explore differential pricing for longer hours of residential parking in the months to come.

Rohit Ahuja, a resident of Vakola, said, “I do not have a problem finding a parking lot because my work space has ample parking. But the main reason anyone doesn’t park in a parking lot is because no one wants to pay money, or go through the effort of finding a parking spot. It would help to have added parking lots in the city. Alongside this, fining for parking on the street which is a no-parking zone needs to be made stricter so everyone uses paid parking lots.”