Chandigarh mulls a ‘congestion tax’ for vehicles coming from outside

During the meeting, the council told Kher, “A congestion tax should be imposed on vehicles (which are not registered in the city) to de-congest the roads in the city as well as to promote the use of public transport in the city.”

​​Apart from this, Kher was also told that the state transport authority office had stopped the registration of new CNG/LPG Autos and only e-Rickshaw/ e-Autos were being registered and promoted in the city.

Officials also told Kher that Automated Testing Vehicles Centre (ATVS) are to be soon created in Chandigarh, where all the passing process and vehicle fitness will be carried out regarding road worthiness of vehicles.

​​Further, during the meeting the topic of paid parking was taken up, during which the MP was told that there were 87 paid parking lots in the city and request for proposals have been sought for improving the parking management at all these lots. The charges will be calculated according to the duration for which a vehicle is parked in the area.

​​The president of Chandigarh Transport Association, who was part of Wednesday’s meeting, suggested that a paid parking yard may be provided at Halo Majra on the open space available on the road between Poultry Form Chowk and Ramdarbar for medium and heavy commercial vehicles.

Further, it was discussed that M/s RITES Ltd would submit their study report of Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) for Chandigarh Urban Complex in the first week of June this year. Thereafter, the planning of Mass Rapid Transit System for Tricity may be discussed accordingly.

​​Regarding public friendly transport system, the first lot of 40 electric buses was made operational from November 13 and the agreement has been signed with M/s Volvo Eicher for second lot of 40 such buses that are likely to be delivered by July.