Buildotech Magazine - Magazine on Building Technology & Sustainability- December,2011

Vehicles parked helter-skelter along the road besides street vendors and pedestrians on sidewalks, portray a chaotic situation on most streets in any Indian city.

Contrary to popular opinion that more off-street parking could fix the problem, they can create a different and equally untenable situation at the curb. Off-street parking regulations not only create poor walking environments, but also lead to congestion and sprawl. Parking spots in new developments generate new trips, which cause more cars to clog up the streets. India is expected to add 250 million new urban residents by 2030. Existing zoning codes, which regulate off-street parking, will ensure that the new development built to accommodate these residents will “lock in” car dependency, congestion and sprawl.

Best practice in off-street parking

  Zoning regulations form the framework that determines what type of development may occur, guiding everything from parking requirements, land use, building density and setbacks. However, when they are out-dated or do not line up with the city’s vision, the codes can actually prevent the cities from becoming the places as they are expected to be.

  Europe has many of the best practices for zoning regulations in the world which are being used to foster sustainable development and transportation. In cities like Amsterdam and Zurich, zoning regulations manage parking tightly, especially in downtowns or near public transport, by limiting the number of parking spaces a developer can build. Large developments are also required to do traffic impact assessments to ensure that roads can absorb traffic generated by these new parking spaces without further congestion. If the impact is found too severe, the number of allowable parking units may be cut even further. Zoning regulations also regulate the building density of the development through the floor space index (FSI). Best practices in Europe use FSIs to encourage growth and density in city centres and along public transport lines. There, it is common to have FSIs of eight or higher. This increase in FSI is also beneficial to developers because it increases the number of rentable units they can build, thus increasing their profitability. Parking requirements are typically framed as a ratio based on the FSI or per dwelling unit. In downtowns and near public transport in European cities, there is often an inverse relationship where the higher the FSI, the lower the required parking.

Off-street parking regulation in Indian cities

  In India, many cities have borrowed out-dated and incomplete zoning regulations – including off-street parking minimums and low FSIs – from US suburbs and other car-dominated societies and not from best practices. The FSI is set at a fairly low level, typically between one and three. While this acts as a de facto limit on parking and mitigates severe traffic impacts of the sort that one witnesses in cities like Jakarta, this does cause a sprawling urban development pattern as the cities grow. The FSI also tends to be quite uniform across the city, not recognizing the opportunity to create density in strategic areas.

  Many Indian cities also require developers to dedicate at least 15% of the FSI to parking spaces or one or two parking spaces per residential home, regardless of where those developments are located. These regulations mimic those used in suburban locations in the US or Europe where motor vehicle ownership is much higher and where people have few alternatives for their daily travel. The combination of required minimum parking and low FSI results in low-density construction with significant parts of the land-use dedicated to parking.

Unlike the European and the US cities, many of which have had public transport since the late 19th century, public transport in many Indian cities is a recent phenomenon. As a result, neither the parking requirements nor the FSI take advantage of the opportunity to provide better access to public transport. Now that cities in India are building metros and BRT systems, zoning regulations can be used to encourage growth along public transport corridors to create better, people-oriented developments.

The city of Ahmedabad has this opportunity, but it will need to revisit its zoning codes. The city just celebrated the two-year anniversary of Janmarg, its high-quality bus rapid transit system. Along one stretch, huge billboards advertise a new real estate development. The marketing materials brag of the proximity to public transport, while promising “Enough Parking Space for All Members.” While developers recognize this opportunity, the zoning regulations still encourage lower density developments with lots of parking.

On-street parking reform is the first step

  For off-street parking reforms to have any impact, cities will also need to grapple with their on-street parking chaos. While regulation of off-street parking is mostly a zoning issue, on-street parking is a management and enforcement issue. Poor on-street parking management is not only degrading the walking environment and worsening parking woes, it is also a lost opportunity for municipal revenue collection.

  Sorting out this growing on-street parking mess will require both new regulations and new infrastructure. First, an inventory of on-street and off-street parking supply, both public and private, needs to be established. Then, cities can define where exactly vehicles are allowed to park and for how long. Finally, they can set appropriate charges for parking using meters that encourage people to park for less time, increasing the rotation at the curb and allowing more access to stores or services by more people. Most importantly, traffic police then need to be given the tools, resources, and equipment to enforce these new regulations.

  If the municipality manages on-street parking well and charges for it, it can enjoy a regular income stream. Some cities make a commitment to invest the funds raised from parking into the local community in the form of better footpaths, street furniture, landscaping, or security, maintenance and cleaning. Barcelona invests the net revenue from parking into its bike-share programme.

  For all on-street parking solutions, enforcement will be the key to success. Cities will need to be tougher in policing bad parking behaviour ---including parking on the sidewalks, blocking pedestrian flow and creating a dangerous walking environment. Cities will also need to enforce parking rules and regulations, including time limits on parking meters. Without fines and enforcement, any new parking system will be ineffective.

  Some cities in India are leading the way. In Pune, the traffic police created detailed maps available online that illustrate parking rules for every street in every city district, helping to inform both drivers and officers about what to enforce. Meanwhile, Chennai has installed multi-space parking meters in several locations, including T. Nagar, one of the city’s most popular shopping districts. The fee charged is a move by the municipal government to better manage existing parking supply and bring some order to the street with all the competing interests --- pedestrians, street vendors, cyclists, auto-rickshaws, two-wheelers and four-wheelers.

Parking and equity

  Since the majority of residents cannot afford to buy a car, mandating parking spaces in new developments raises concerns about equity. A typical size housing plot for poorer urban residents is 8-23sqm while the average size for a parking spot plus circulation space is 26sqm. Cars are getting more space than families.

  If the development caters to lower to middle income people, many of whom will not be able to afford to have their own cars, the parking regulation needlessly drives up the cost of their housing, often accounting for 15 to 20% of the total cost of construction. These regulations force developers to invest in parking instead of public transport or other forms of access that would benefit more people.

Ending the bad romance

  Cities today can leapfrog over the mistakes of the past, but not with all these parked cars standing in the way. To avoid a traffic nightmare, cities must stop thinking of off-street parking as a solution to their on-street parking problems. Parking supply affects decisions people make about how they will travel, impacting congestion, air quality and quality of life. Using parking regulations smartly means ending the co-dependency on the car and creating sustainable communities. By unpacking their zoning policies and better managing the curb, cities can end the bad romance with parking.

Submitted by: Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, Ahmedabad