[sustran] Re: New Parking Policy in Mizoram, India

[Paul Barter]

Many thanks Faizan!

Prompted by your message I have just written a blog post on this issue (title: Japan-style "proof of parking" regulations for India?). 

It highlights Japan's proof-of-parking regulation as an example for others to learn from.  See http://www.reinventingparking.org/2010/08/japan-style-proof-of-parking.html 

I would be grateful for comments or corrections on the post. 

By the way, depending on how exactly the Indian regulation is written it may not necessarily 'prevent the "low on real-estate" populace from owning cars' (as you said). In Japan's version, it is perfectly fine to RENT a parking space for the purpose of their 'shako shomeisho' regulation. This is not very expensive in outer suburban areas but it is very pricey in inner city areas. 

As best I can understand it, some key benefits of Japan's proof-of-parking rule seem to be:
	* it created a demand for leased parking near homes, which the market has generally managed to meet, at a market price;
	* it reduced the urge to have parking requirements for residential buildings and made it easier to adopt a pragmatic approach, in which small buildings are exempted;
	* it probably slowed the growth of car ownership slightly (even though this was not the objective of the policy), especially in places with high property prices, which are precisely the highly accessible, densely-developed, transit-rich contexts where car ownership is least necessary. 


By the way, the Mizoram measure has triggered a hostile editorial today in the Times of India and an approving opinion from Rudroneel Ghosh in the same edition. See http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Its-the-right-approach/articleshow/6433893.cms and http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Raises-cost-of-mobility/articleshow/6433892.cms 

I think both of them somewhat miss the point. But Ghosh's is more logical. 

Paul

Paul A. Barter | Assistant Professor | LKY School of Public Policy National University of Singapore | 469C Bukit Timah Road | Singapore 259772 | Tel: +65-6516 3324 | Fax: +65-6778 1020 | paulbarter at nus.edu.sg | http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/Faculty_Paul_Barter.aspx  |http://www.reinventingtransport.org/ |http://ww.reinventingparking.org

-----Original Message-----
From: sustran-discuss-bounces+sppbpa=nus.edu.sg at list.jca.apc.org [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+sppbpa=nus.edu.sg at list.jca.apc.org] On Behalf Of Faizan Jawed
Sent: Wednesday, 25 August 2010 8:57 PM
To: sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org; NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [sustran] New Parking Policy in Mizoram, India

 A parking policy bite from the Indian far-east -
Mizoram<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizoram>.
While a number of Indian cities are debating the own a parking before you
own a car issue, the Mizoram government is getting down to business. Such a
rule in a way prevents the "low on real-estate" populace from owning cars,
but what about landlords?

Paul, are you listening?