NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS
JOHANNESBURG PUSHES PAID PARKING
The City of Johannesburg is forging ahead with its controversial parking scheme. Discussions about the viability of expanding the scheme and the potential fee increase are taking place shortly.
CINCINNATI BACKLASH
The City Council for Cincinnati, Ohio has recently approved a deal to turn over parking operations for more than 5,000 metered spaces and seven garages to private companies. In return, the city will reap $92 million up front, with a further $3 million each subsequent year.
The decision has been controversial among local citizens, and even within the council itself, scraping by on a majority of one. The city is rife with fear that private investors will drive up costs. The Cincinnati Enquirer recently reported that meter fees and ticketing revenue would double by 2016 thanks to the new deal.
An anti-tax group, claiming that the
arrangement is no more than an indirect tax increase, has gone to court to block the deal. The group says that the issue should go to a public vote.
In response, the office of one of the council members released a prepared statement saying that this is ‘a great deal for the city’ and that the alternative is drastic cuts in the city’s services. It went on to say: ‘This is a smart strategic approach that will help put us on more solid financial footing in the future.’ Similar privatisation schemes in Chicago have come under scathing criticism since 2008, but Cincinnati City Council are adamant that they ‘have been very deliberate in learning from the mistakes of Chicago.’
PARKING OUTLAWED
Illegal parking is a source of contention for the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) in India following a high court order that forced it to sever its contracts with private firms that run paid-for parking facilities under Mumbai’s flyovers. More recently, locals charging motorists to park under the Elphinstone Bridge have troubled the corporation, and it is considering measures it can take to stop the illegal parking.
An MSRDC official outlined its plans
to the Hindustan Times, saying ‘We have decided to place posters on the pillars
12 MAY 2013
below the flyover warning motorists that parking there is illegal. In addition, we are planning to station a security guard to prevent the illegal activity.’
This is all a consequence of a new law banning parking under flyovers in the city due to security concerns. Plans are also in place for constructing fences around the area below the city’s 31 flyovers. An official said: ‘The fences will prevent illegal parking and deter anti-social behaviour. The areas under the flyovers will be managed by Mumbai Entry Point Limited (MEPL), which collects tolls for the flyovers in Mumbai.’
www.britishparking.co.uk
The scheme is already well underway in the central business district, where a Metro spokesman declared that the scheme was ‘working’ but efforts to expand to cover other suburbs have met surprising resistance.
This resistance comes in the form of the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, who have concerns over the lack of consultation with the affected communities. They, and other opponents of the scheme, say that residents and businesses are ‘suffering from the punitive cost of the scheme.’ A spokesman from the City said that the scheme was ‘not about fund-raising’ but rather the benefits to the community. The intention is to encourage people to use public transport, while those who use car parks will be discouraged from spending a long time in a space. Concerns have been raised that the scheme primarily targets affluent white areas, though a source claims that these are ‘unfounded’.
ANNE KITZMAN / SHUTTERSTOCK
EHRMAN PHOTOGRAPHIC / SHUTTERSTOCK
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