Most metro stations lack parking space

Rachana Ramesh | NT
Bengaluru

While Namma Metro was hailed as a faster alternative to travelling by road, many are reluctant to use it due to lack of last-mile connectivity and absence of parking lots at metro stations. A recent report by the Housing and Urban Affairs stated that unavailability of parking was one of the reasons for Bengaluru metro’s low ridership.

While a handful of metro stations have designated parking spaces, most do not have any kind of parking infrastructure, forcing motorists to park in nearby bylanes of the station. The lack of parking has discouraged many from using the swift metros.

Faraz Abdul, who has to commute to JP Nagar from Attiguppe for work, said there is no parking space available at the Attiguppe metro station, leading him to find a spot in the bylanes. “I end up parking two or three lanes away and have to make a 10 minute walk to the metro. It increases my travel time significantly so I choose to travel by bike,” he said.

Kalpana Ramesh, another commuter from the same area, said even when she finds a spot, she must leave the vehicle at her own discretion and is anxious about theft. Indiranagar is also one such station that does not have a parking space and residents have complained of parking hassles.

“People come, park and are gone for hours, which causes a lot of inconvenience to the residents. A stretch of the road near the station has been taken over by the autorickshaws, leading to traffic jams,” said Sneha Nandihal, co-founder of I Change Indiranagar, a federation of RWAs in Indiranagar. I Change had raised the issue with the traffic police and the MLA of the constituency, but no steps have been taken to facilitate parking.

“There is a space that comes under the jurisdiction of the metro. They wanted to convert it into a commercial complex. Had they turned it into a multi-level parking lot, it would be a solution,” Sneha said. She added that the Indiranagar metro station lacks last mile connectivity, which forces users to bring their own vehicles.

Bounce, the bike rental service started out by providing last mile connectivity for metro riders and has now expanded its service to railway stations too. Within a year, 42% of Bounce rides either originated or culminated at Namma Metro stations and around 40,000 of the nearly one lakh daily rides undertaken have been metro commuters.

“The BMRCL (Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited) encourages us to provide last mile connectivity and also provides designated spaces. We also use those locations for battery swapping,” said Ankit, Public Relations Officer, Bounce. The increase in such rental networks can also help with the issue of parking.

“Depending on the availability of land, we have created parking spaces for both two and four-wheelers in whichever station possible,” said Yashwanth Chavan, Public Relations Officer, BMRCL. “We have also been providing feeder buses for last mile connectivity with the help of BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation). There are 100 odd routes that touch most of the stations,” he added. When asked if commuters can expect new parking spaces, he said it depends on the availability of land.