Chennai Corporation to implement city-wide smart parking management

While unregulated parking has shrunk carriage ways of many streets in Chennai and made pavements inaccessible, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) plans to implement smart parking management in over 25 locations. For now, the plan is to implement it in Anna Nagar and then in T.Nagar.

As per the Comprehensive Mobility Plan – Executive Summary of the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), the target is to implement regulated and priced parking across 36 high-demand areas and key off-street locations in the Chennai Metropolitan Area of 5.904 square kilometre by 2048.

“Parking spaces are scarce in Chennai. This plan is to cap illegal parking, decongest roads, monetise parking, and ultimately push people to use public transport more,” a senior official with the GCC said.

According to this plan, the on-street parking clusters where management projects are to come up in the GCC limits include Adyar, Velachery, Purasaiwalkam, Triplicane-Marina, Besant Nagar, West Mambalam, Saidapet, Meenambakkam and Tiruvottiyur.

Apart from this, clusters were noted in Tambaram, Chromepet, Avadi, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Thirumazhisai among others.

Anna Nagar parking

The study for smart parking management in Anna Nagar has already been done and the GCC has floated tenders for a five-year smart parking project under a public-private partnership. Package I of the programme covers the road network from 1st Avenue to 6th Avenue and 1st Main Road to 17th Main Road. This includes 12.85 km of primary roads, with a total road width exceeding 24 metres, and 13.58 km of secondary roads (18-24 m wide).

A parking demand study found that during the busiest 30 minutes, the number of vehicles using primary and secondary roads is about 11,456 cars. Under the new plan, 2,100 organised parking spaces will be provided — 1,699 on primary roads and 401 on secondary. Tertiary roads of 14.87 km were excluded in this phase since they serve mainly residential parking demand.

Fine system

As per the smart-parking management plan, in ‘No-Parking Areas’, a no-parking fine of ₹500 is applicable and towing charges worth ₹225 for two-wheelers, ₹450 for four-wheelers, and ₹800 for light commercial vehicles and heavy commercial vehicles (LCVs/HCVs) would be levied. If vehicles are impounded, impounding charges apply at ₹500 per day for two-wheelers and ₹1,000 per day for four-wheelers and LCVs/HCVs.

For violations in designated parking areas, when vehicles exceed the permitted parking duration, clamping charges of ₹100 for two-wheelers, ₹300 for four-wheelers, and ₹500 for LCVs/HCVs would be imposed. If the violation continues beyond six hours, there will be towing charges at ₹225 for two-wheelers, ₹450 for four-wheelers, and ₹800 for LCVs/HCVs, followed by the same impounding charges. Vehicles remaining impounded beyond 30 days are liable for disposal through auction after recovery of towing and impounding charges.