Bengaluru: Bangalore metro recently turned three, but parking in metro stations continues to be a problem. All the metro stations in Bangalore, unlike Delhi, will not have parking space.
BMRC says only the terminal stations will have parking space. In fact, BMRC is looking to connect people with the metro through BMTC feeder buses rather than by providing parking space for private vehicles.
An official from BMRCL who prefers to be unnamed, says, “Our policy is to encourage people to use public modes of transport and bring passengers to the metro stations through BMTC feeder buses.
We do not want people to use their private transport so we intend to use feeder buses. The metro stations in the city will not have parking space for four-wheelers.” He went on, “We will, however, have some space for two-wheelers. But the terminal stations will have huge space for both two-wheelers and four-wheelers.”
Meanwhile, passengers traveling by the metro are not too pleased. “I take the metro from Ulsoor to Byappanahalli I have to park my vehicle at a friend’s place and then come walking to the station to board the train,” says Bipashi Mohan, who works at ITPL.
Expressing a similar opinion, Raj G, who travels from Trinity Circle to Byappanahalli says, “Until BMRCL provides the required infrastructure, it would be difficult for them to increase the traffic.
I prefer the metro but sometimes I refrain for taking it because of lack of parking space. In fact I feel, they should mainly provide parking space in the metro stations that are housed in the city. They do not even have space for BMTC buses, how can they provide space for private vehicles?”
Traffic expert M N Sreehari says, “The Detailed Project Report (DPR) clearly says that parking should be provided at all the stations, even at the intermediate stations.
They are converting the portion below the pillars into hotels and also getting lots of advertisements. Their prime concern should be public service and not profits. Inter-connectivity is the main idea and if they cannot give this, why would people opt for the metro?”
He continued, “There are two aspects to using the metro. One is to get to the metro and another is what happens after getting down from the metro. And if both are not satisfactory, why would anyone board it?”
