Pune: The Pune Smart City Development Corporation Ltd (PSCDCL) has gone a step ahead and invited an expression of interest (EoI) for a smart parking model in the Aundh-Baner and Balewadi (ABB) area.
The ABB role model has been made by inviting public opinion.
The PMC has started some smart city initiatives in this area including 750 smart multi-level parkings.
The PSCDCL wants to introduce new technology in parking without human interference by charging a nominal parking fee to curb ‘parking mafia’.
The PMC General Body approved the parking policy in March 2018, which suggested ‘pay-and-park’ lots across the city.
Under the policy, an all-party committee under the chairpersonship of Mayor Mukta Tilak is to be formed to study the policy and file a report within six months.
However, the committee has not been formed and so the five roads have not been selected for implementing the parking policy on an experimental basis.
According to the policy, the committee report will identify spots to construct multi-storeyed parking on a build operate and transfer (BOT) basis.
Commenting on the issue, PMC Traffic Planning Department Additional City Engineer Sriniwas Bonala said, “The civic administration is ready to implement the policy. However, the committee will have select the five roads to implement the parking policy on a pilot basis.”
Without waiting for a positive reply from the civic body, PSCDCL has selected a road from the ABB area to implement the policy on an experimental basis. Now, it has invited the EoI on the smart parking.
PSCDCL has set an objective of improving the user experience by saving time in searching for parking space and ease of payment through digital banking channels.
PSCDCL CEO Rajendra Jagtap told Sakal Times, “We had written to the PMC to include a road within the Smart City (ABB) area among the roads to be chosen for the experiment. However, we have still not got any reply from them. Hence, we have invited EoI for the smart parking for the ABB area.”
“The purpose is to check the viability of the parking policy and introduce a new technology in parking to abolish the traditional parking system, which is responsible for the ‘parking mafia’ in the city,” he added.
He said, “Over six companies have approached us to provide a smart parking system, in which there will be no manual interference. We will provide a road in the smart city area to these companies by permitting them to charge a nominal parking charge of Re 1 on an experimental basis.”
PSCDCL, in consultation with the PMC, will evaluate the feasibility of the project based on the results thereof, for being implemented across the entire city of Pune.
