Intelligent parking system debuts at Connaught Place

Also planned is an app that will allow you to book a slot in advance

Boards give you information on empty spaces within a parking lot. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)

Taking a step closer to its plan to introduce online booking facilities for parking, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), has installed variable message signs (VMS) at Baba Kharak Singh Marg and vacancy information boards in Connaught Place.

This was done recently in collaboration with Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS). The mobile application for online booking of parking lots will be launched in the coming weeks, officials said.

DIMTS officials said vacancy information boards have been installed near the entry gates of parking lots in Connaught Place. Each parking lot has at least one or two such boards displaying specific information about availability of lots for different kinds of vehicles. “The boards display information on how many two-wheelers and four-wheelers are already parked there and how many more slots are available,” the DIMTS spokesperson said.

The official said VMSes will also be installed at three sites and these will give out information on the overall parking space.

“One has been installed at Baba Kharak Singh Marg. The remaining two locations are yet to be decided on. The VMS will help drivers find their convenient place for parking, according to the information on hand,” the spokesperson said.

NDMC Director (Projects) O P Mishra said, “Currently, we are conducting an experiment in some NDMC areas to check the system. Depending on the feedback we get by February 15, the system will be replicated in other areas under our jurisdiction.”

The installation of these boards are part of the NDMC-DIMTS plan to make parking in the area hassle-free. “From providing WiFi in Connaught Place, installing these parking screens and providing online booking facility for parking in future — we are looking at an integrated parking scheme for NDMC area. The mobile application will show vacancies in parking lots. Tenders for the app have been invited and we have received three entries so far. Orders are going to be issued in the next few days,”Mishra said.

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“Once the app is downloaded, those visiting CP can know in advance as to whether parking will be available by the time they get there. This will save fuel and, to some extent, prevent traffic jams. Also, the hand-held machines that have been installed at almost all parking sites, help keep track of the transactions in real time and send data to the control room. We have also developed back-end data management to track and monitor transactions,” the DIMTS spokesperson said.

Sources in DIMTS said the boom barrier-controlled automated parking system will come up at 20 sites. One site would be Block F in the Inner Circle of Connaught Place. Two sites in Janpath have already been completed and work is on at the rest of the sites.

The council has handed over around 94 parking lots in its area to DIMTS.

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