Parking as a travel demand management strategy to induce public transport: a case study of Pune

Abstract

The study aims at modifying the parking policy as a travel demand management strategy to increase the use of public transport. Many cities of the world have adopted various strategies to manage parking demand and are able to withdraw lakhs of parking spaces with reduction in personal vehicle use and ownership. Taking a case of an Indian city, Pune, the impact of bringing the same strategies of supply caps, maximums, pricing, workplace levies, residential permits etc. has been assessed in the study. The thesis has focussed on the management of parking with fees and regulations at every type of land use in the city especially in residential, commercial and public-semi-public areas. Parking has always been given incentives by our traditional policies which is nothing but an invisible hand in encouraging private vehicle ownership and use. Thus, using parking as a tool to dissuade car use, increase public transit ridership and further manage the overall travel demand in the city is the major goal. Meagre parking charges and blanket minimum parking requirements in India reduces the Average Generalized Cost for personal vehicular modes. The study has tried to use parking as a tool in making adjustments in AGC for cars and two-wheelers by increasing parking fees. These fees are based on the real estate value of the land in the locality. Different scenarios are developed for Stated Preference Survey with these different parking fees and it is found from the results that large percentage of people are showing their interest in shifting to public transit modes with implementation of high parking charges. Further, the revenue generates from these parking fees could be used to improvise other city needs like quality of public transport, widening of cycle ways and footpaths. An attempt has been made in making modifications in the parking norms both on-street as well as off-street considering all the geographic factors for ex. nearby transit facility, walkability, land use density, nearby parking lot facility etc. to make the system more flexible and efficient. Parking zones are created by the overlay analysis so that requirements could be made as per the actual need of various locations in the study area.Suggestions have been made to regulate on-street parking, eliminate requirements for buildings, limit the overall supply and enforce parking rules with the aim of discouraging car use and encouraging public transit use.