It's A Piecemeal Approach, They Say, As BBMP Selects 85 Roads For Differential Paid Parking System Park and pay is set to be a reality in many city areas. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has identified 85 roads where differential paid parking system will be implemented.But the moot question is: Will this plan pay off ? Here's what is proposed, drawing upon the policy drafted by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT). First, the city will be divided into various traffic zones.Parking fee will be redeemed where traffic density is high and public transport network is good. Also, on-street parking will be costlier than off-street parking (malls, multi-level vehicle parking and commercial establishments). The proposal, though, may take a while to be implemented. “The government may not give its nod very soon considering BBMP elections are in mid-2015,“ said sources in the CM office. Nevertheless, transport experts have given their thumbs down to the proposal, saying it is not driven by the motive to resolve day-today parking woes but to fill up BBMP's empty coffers. They fear the new proposal will bring back parking mafia and unscrupulous attendants. Differential paid parking system, they feel, is a piecemeal approach and not a holistic one that includes better utilization of public space, creating new infrastructure and monitoring. “BBMP has been given the mandate to govern both on-street and off-street parking. In this context, parking laws have been loosely set based on guidelines and conviction of the civic body . This is because t the state government has given less importance to parking in urban planning,“ said urban expert A S Avinash. Experts insist the BBMP should focus on creating more i parking spaces. Others like Karim Baig, former i RTO, feel Bangalore should emulate Mumbai-Delhi and Noida with car-free day, weekend congestion tax and parking space certificates to decongest roads and improve parking facilities. “In Noida, it is mandatory for anyone buying a new car to produce proof of parking space for it. There has been a drastic reduction in street parking as a result, though some have got away with fake proof,“ he added. Some former Bangalore mayors want the state government to broaden the scope of multi-storey parking by funding the BBMP, BDA and BMTC. “The government should relax rules and provide incentives to allow additional floors for private buildings to build multilevel parking,“ they say. Some see solution in new technology . The automated parking in troduced on Brigade Road and Commercial Street where vehicles parked beyond two hours are towed away is one alternative, they point out. Citing another recent technology , Karthik K, a trader on Brigade Road, said a mobile phone app enables motorists to see in real time which parking slots are available, reducing the need for people to drive around looking for spaces.