[sustran] Congestion tax in metros?

[Sujit Patwardhan]

11 May 2007


Forwarded by my colleague Mr Ravi Bhagwat...

Knowing how fickle our politicians are, it may take months for this to
happen but at least they are saying the right things....which I must admit
is music to our ears...
:-)

--
Sujit

Sujit Patwardhan
Parisar/PTTF
Pune, India





*Pay more to drive around Colaba*

R a j a t G u h a & M K Ve n u NEW DELHI
rajat.guha at timesgroup.com

FORGET Shanghai for a moment. Mumbai may soon resemble London when it comes
to traffic, and more importantly, congestion charges. The government has
proposed that states should levy a 'core area charge' for mega cities to
reduce traffic congestion. If implemented, you may have to pay a special
levy to drive into Colaba in South Mumbai, or Connaught Circus, the heart of
the Indian capital. And that's not all. You may have to pay more for parking
your car at such premium locations.


Delhi and some other states are considering this proposal in order to
decongest several key cities, while Mumbai and Bangalore have also been
asked to follow the same model. Already, some European cities, including
London, are levying decongestion charges for driving into the heart of the
city.


The government plans to link this proposal to the Urban Renewal Mission for
infrastructure funding. Some key points in major metropolitan cities like
Connaught Place in Delhi, MB Road in Bangalore, and Colaba and Andheri in
Mumbai have been facing chaotic traffic.


The Delhi government is planning to substantially increase the parking fee
and entrance charge in such core areas to decongest them. The idea is to
encourage commuters to use shuttle services from nearby areas. A Delhi
government official said the matter would be soon discussed in a Cabinet
meeting. "In other parts of the capital, public land has been used by malls
and shopping complexes for parking facilities. They should be taxed for
using state-owned land," he said.


The urban development ministry would soon call a meeting with other states
to discuss the proposal. "The proposal would form part of the National Urban
Transport Policy after it is reviewed next month. This would be part of the
state tax. States would be encouraged to undertake such levy in order to
strengthen their revenue base. Taxing every second car in a same household
would also be incorporated in the review," an official said.






------------------------------------------------------
Sujit Patwardhan
sujit at vsnl.com
sujitjp at gmail.com

"Yamuna",
ICS Colony,
Ganeshkhind Road,
Pune 411 007
India
Tel: 25537955
-----------------------------------------------------
Hon. Secretary:
Parisar
www.parisar.org
------------------------------------------------------
Founder Member:
PTTF
(Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum)
www.pttf.net
------------------------------------------------------

-- 
------------------------------------------------------
Sujit Patwardhan
sujit at vsnl.com
sujitjp at gmail.com

"Yamuna",
ICS Colony,
Ganeshkhind Road,
Pune 411 007
India
Tel: 25537955
-----------------------------------------------------
Hon. Secretary:
Parisar
www.parisar.org
------------------------------------------------------
Founder Member:
PTTF
(Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum)
www.pttf.net
------------------------------------------------------
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