Hello readers! I am Sayeda Laizu Aktar, an undergraduate student of Urban and
Regional Planning, BUET. In
our Presentation and Communication Technique course, I have been working on
“Car Parking Facilities around New Market, Dhaka City”. While working on it I
have found some issues of car parking in new market which I want to share with you.
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| Figure: Parked Cars around New Market Source: Author, 2018 |
Dhaka
is the largest metropolitan city in Bangladesh. The city provides us with many
facilities. Car parking is such a facility. We almost see car parking
facilities around everywhere. But in case of almost all market places in Dhaka
city, the parking facilities are not satisfactory. According to Rahman, 2010
(as cited in Zannat, Ahmed, Mitra, Rafiq, Hasan, Akhter & Fahad, 2013), in
Dhaka city, there are about 3,000 shopping centres. Among these markets
New Market is one of the oldest ones (Zannat et. al., 2013). But the parking facilities of New market is not pleasing.
Existing Car Parking
Facilities of New Market
New market is
mainly a commercial area (Reza,
Kakon & Asad., 2017). People come here for many purposes. Among them shopping is the main purpose (Rahman,
2006). In New market, there are four parking places (Zannat et. al.,
2013; Reza et. al, 2017). The parking type of these spaces is mainly on-street (Zannat
et. al., 2013). Parking services are not free here. BDT 10 taka is taken as parking charge (Zannat et. al., 2013; Banu &
Rahman, 2006). But the problem is that there is no limited time period with the
current parking charge (Zannat. et. al., 2013). As a result people park their
cars for unlimited time period by only paying 10 taka which is not a good practice.
Parking Demand and Supply Condition of New Market
In new market, the number of
supplied parking bays is 120 (Banu & Rahman, 2006). Parking demand of this
area is around 306 bays (Zannat et. al., 2013). If we see the demand, it is
nearly twice of the supply. Sometimes people try to adjust with supplied
parking bays. Sometimes they park illegally.
The parking demand in new market
does not remain constant at every period of a day. The demand sometimes falls and sometimes rises (GIF-1). The peak period lies between
5:30 pm to 6:00 pm when the parking demand is maximum (GIF-1). The parking demand remains minimum from 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm (GIF-1). So, at those periods when the demand becomes excessive, car parkers have to suffer a lot.
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| GIF-1: Hourly Car Parking Demand in New Market |
Parking demand varies from weekday
to weekend (GIF-2). In weekdays the parking demand remains as usual. But in weekends
the demand is surprisingly very high specially in the evening (GIF-2).
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| GIF-2: Weekday and Weekend Car Parking Demand in New Market |
The lack of parking supply is not
reducing the number of parkers. The improper mentality of the people finds a
solution of this and takes the way of haphazard and illegal parking.
Reasons
and Impacts of Haphazard Parking
The reasons behind haphazard
parking in new market result from different types of factors. For example-1. Lack
of Parking bays (Zannat et. al., 2013), 2. Unwillingness to pay for parking
(Rahman, 2006), 3. Lack of off-street parking facilities (Arefin, 2007), 4. Unplanned
design of the provided parking spaces etc.
The impact of haphazard parking is
very unpleasant. Some common impacts
which we generally experience when we go the market are- traffic congestion,
movement problem etc.
The
overall finding from the above discussion is that the present parking
facilities of new market area are not adequate comparing with the demand. The
whole atmosphere of new market is suffering from the ill impacts of parking. To
enhance the current condition, some recommendations can be taken.
Possible Recommendations-
Possible Recommendations-
1.
Increasing the number of parking bays (Zannat et. al., 2013).
2. On-street parking should be prohibited (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, 2016).
2. On-street parking should be prohibited (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, 2016).
3. Shared parking policy can be
implemented (Litman, 2016).
4. Anti-parking programs can be taken to reduce the
car use (Bari & Efroymson, 2005).
5. Car free movement can be taken on some
particular days to show the people that how the city looks like without cars
(Mahmud, Gopi & Chowdhury, 2012).
My opinion is that, the involvement of urban
planners and engineers in this problem can improve the present parking condition of new market. Proper
maintenance and monitoring of the existing facilities are also important.
Thus,
if it is possible to ensure a better parking system around every markets in
Dhaka city, the existing scenario of the transportation system would definitely
advance.
Reference List
Arefin, A.B.M.S. (2007). Impact of Parking on a Major Arterial
Thoroughfare: A case study of Mirpur Road, Dhaka (Unpublished Master’s
thesis). Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka,
Bangladesh).
Banu, M. M., & Rahman,
M. M. (2016, December). Demand and supply of parking facility and the effects
of on street parking on roadway capacity. In Proceedings of 3rd
International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering, CUET (pp.
716-721).
Bari, M., &
Efroymson, D. (2005). Efficient Use of Road Space and Maximisation of
Door-to-Door Mobility: Suggestions for Improvements in Dhaka. Unpublished
paper, WBB Trust, Dhaka: June.
Litman,
T. (2016). Parking management: Strategies, evaluation and planning.
Victoria Transport Policy Institute.
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RAJUK, (2016). Draft Dhaka Structure Plan Report 2016-2035 (Full
Volume). Retrieved from http://www.rajukdhaka.gov.bd/rajuk/image/slideshow/Dhaka_Structural_Plan.html
Reza, F., Kakon, A. N.,
& Asad, K. A. (2017). Characterization based on-street parking management
in shopping area of a developing country: A study of Dhaka New Market, Bangladesh. Lowland
Technology International, 19(1, June), 41-52.
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