On Wednesday, the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) released a paper recommending paid parking in the federal capital to reduce traffic.
Dr. Idrees Khawaja, PIDE’s former Chief of Research, said at the report’s launch ceremony that free parking encourages car use beyond the optimal limit.
The institute’s team evaluated 66 parking places in 17 busy Islamabad markets to determine the “demand and supply of parking” for a trial parking plan.
The survey found that parking demand outpaced availability at various places throughout several hours of the day, causing motorists to spend extra time and fuel to find a suitable parking spot.
A poll at chosen locations found that 69.3% of motorists were willing to pay for parking.
The study proposed parking lots and other designated parking spaces with car and motorbike parking stalls, buffers, sidewalks, frontages, crosswalks, ramps, bollards, vegetation medians, and green parking stalls.
It suggested installing parking meters and a parking app to collect payments, controlled by CCTV cameras and supplemented by traffic wardens.
The study suggested a flat rate of Rs. 30 per hour for parking charges. PIDE report suggested three pricing options:
- Fixed price regardless of the time of day or duration for parked cars.
- Peak-hour pricing with higher parking fees at peak hours.
- Marginal pricing with an increase in parking charges with duration.
With these charges, the net revenue after all costs from 30 parking lots in seven sites would produce Rs. 51 million per month. It would also ease the traffic flow greatly in busy areas, the report added.
Bhatta mafia ki eid ho jaye gi. Motorcycle se pehlay hi 20 letay hain aur 30 ki koshish kartay hain. Cars se 50 aur demand 100 ki b hoti hai.
Where is the parking?
Another proof of the incompetence of Pakistani economists. Just squeeze the people in every way. Couldn’t these experts suggest how to end the looting of the elite, how to stop the way of corruption? How to save the nation from the punishment of debts etc etc.