This apart, construction of nine more Traffic and Transit Management Centres are slated for completion by January 2011 to provide integrated public transportation hubs to minimise road congestion. Add to this, Phase 2 of Namma Metro project and monorail corridors proposed. The City is well on the way to have a slew of public transportation systems in place soon.
Despite these initiatives to encourage people to use public transport, Bangalore’s road vehicle population will have well crossed the 35 lakh mark. The total number of registered motor vehicles in Bangalore Urban alone rose from a whopping 32.4 lakh in March 2009 to 34.9 lakh in March 2010, with two-wheelers constituting 72 per cent of them.
Does this congestion nightmare warrant road pricing for Bangalore? A strong votary of such a levy is Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety Bhaskar Rao. “Road congestion is a hell of a problem in the City. Motorists have taken road space for granted. It is high time that a congestion levy to discourage personal or private vehicles is brought about,” he says.
Citing examples four and two-wheelers being parked on roads and footpaths in residential areas and schools not allowing private vehicles into their premises in the vicinity of Central Business District (CBD), Rao supports a congestion tax as early as possible.
A senior police official, however, rubbishes any proposal to have a congestion tax. Most metros in the country are not equipped to have a road tax, he argues.
“London tax did not reduce the number of vehicles, though it raked in lot of revenue. Citing Singapore tax is equally absurd, as the level of technology by way of elaborate road sensors is far too advanced and expensive for India to introduce. When we do not have the wherewithal to manage a toll expressway in an efficient manner, how on earth can we manage a congestion tax,” he asks and suggests introduction of a mandatory paid parking system within CBD.