Smart Parking solutions coming to Mumbai

Mumbai and traffic/parking woes go hand in hand. I remember driving to the city from Pune on a weekend and half of my time squandered away merely in finding some parking space for my car. Sadly, twice I paid fines for parking at wrong places. But seems like, soon all this would be a thing of past with the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) planning to start a service through which motorists will be able to identify vacant spots on their mobile.

TMC chief Sanjeev Jaiswal on Friday had a discussion with office-bearers of a Bangalore-based firm which has executed a similar system in the Garden city.

The firm would soon be chalking out parking slots in the city and will then put up their occupancy status on a mobile app.

One has to log in to put up one’s requirement following which the system will reflect the current occupancy status of the slots.

''A motorist coming to Thane station from GB Road can search for the nearest parking slot available at either station road or the Ram Maruti road through the app and get the status availability. If the time and space suit him, he can instantly make payments online, following which the slot will be booked for him for the specified tenure and pre-approved rate. The entire process will take him not more than five minutes and the motorist will also save on time and fuel," said a TMC official.

Not just this, the system will also notify about the parking rate at the designated spot; one can also book the same using a mobile mode of payment. The entire system will be operative using GPS and the information will be disseminated through a central server. Facilities for payment of penalties in case of parking beyond the stipulated time will also be made available for users.

The TMC has already begun work on implementing the system and a trial run will be done soon at the parking lot adjoining the Eastern Express Highway and Galdys Alwares road.The project will be presented for approval before the general body next month, following which the same will be implemented across the city within three months, informed officials.