Finding that elusive parking spot is a problem worldwide, but according to a new study Torontonians have it relatively easy.
In its first-ever Global Parking Index, IBM found it took Toronto drivers on average 13 minutes to park, placing the city third best in the world behind Chicago and Los Angeles and well below the 20-minute average.
New Delhi drivers had the hardest time parking, followed by Bangalore and Beijing.
Researchers polled 8,042 commuters in 20 cities about the time spent looking for a space, arguments over spots and parking tickets received.
More than half said they had given up a search for a spot, and drivers in New Delhi, Bangalore, Nairobi and Milan argued the most over parking.
Chicago reported the fewest tickets for illegal parking. Bangalore had the most.
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/35515.wss
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Comments
Hard to believe.
Actually I'm not sure I believe that Bangalore's parking situation is that bad. I think its disorganized and chaotic - but whenever I have had to look for parking I've found it within a reasonable time. One important aspect that Bangalore has over Chicago, for example, is that its built on human scales - so you can always park some distance away at walk. Often in Chicago this is not an option - for a number of reasons.
I also find it weird the statement that more parking tickets have been issued in Bangalore than Chicago. I have never seen a parking ticket on ANY car in Bangalore and have never received one myself. When I lived in Chicago I could have plastered my wall with the orange parking tickets that I had received - in fact I got 4 on the last day I was there. Whether I paid them or believed they were justified is a different issue but certainly the police were handing them out in large numbers.
Here, I think the majority of violators get away scot-free. It would be a huge revenue boost to the BBMP to collect parking violations. In most cities of the world that is a significant factor of their annual budget. Here BBMP keeps crying that they have no money but there is this huge cash cow waiting to be milked. A five minute stroll in any neigborhood in Bangalore will produce several examples of violations - from parking in no parking zones to parking badly.
In fact, the single biggest factor in bad traffic is the fact that no violations or fines are pursued. The only thing the cops go after is the idiots who dont wear helmets - which I think is a waste of time.
Ramesh