Garage may be made mandatory to own car

It's compelling again to revisit the illustration on how much street space is required for different modes of travel - cars, bus, bicycles & walking.

Some interesting quotes to help understand issues better :

Parking is not a constitutional right. Governments should not allow pedestrian spaces to be used for parking, & no public funds should be used for parking facilities

PROBABLY 100 YEARS FROM NOW, PEOPLE WILL WONDER HOW WE LIVED IN SUCH TERRIBLE CITIES AS WE HAVE TODAY, WHERE PEDESTRIANS, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN & THE AGED LIVED IN TERROR OF TRAFFIC ON ROADS!
 
It is very simple to have a city with great quality of life: It only has to be designed for people, much more than for cars.
The friendlier to cars a city is, the less humane it becomes.
 
Why all streets for motor vehicles? Why not design a city where half the streets are for pedestrians & bicycles only ?
 
Typical New York roads never had place for pedestrians … & the over emphasis on roads and flyovers is spreading all over Asia, though New York is reclaiming lost pedestrian spaces.
 
Cars on sidewalks, or parking bays where there should be sidewalks suggest that citizens with cars are more important than those who don’t have them.
 
When cars appeared, we should have started to build a parallel road network: One for cars, & the other exclusively pedestrian.
 
Over the last 80 years, we have been making cities much more for cars mobility than for children’s happiness.
 
WHAT EQUALITY POST THE TWO WORLD WARS ? ARE WE BUILDING AND ORGANIZING CITIES TO CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR ALL CLASSES ?

theory, but of no practical value. Nobody will buy that argument

True that it's theory, but almost all planners and decision makers use it abroad to penalise car owners for hogging excessive street space with congestion & road use taxes, & they are also beginning to do it in India (an example is the announcement above).

We immediately need 2-3 underpasses in Hudson circle and Townhall, that will save lot of time for lot of people.

Maybe, as long as the focus is maintained on people (& not cars). 2-3 underpasses is necessary for public transport and pedestrians, not for private vehicles.

garage rule will ever come to bangalore?

You are right - it may take time, but the 'announcement' is a start, & planners are beginning to think correctly & understand why congestion increases despite so many flyovers, road-widening, etc & that gives hope for controlling unrestrained traffic growth.

we all become sanyasi's

It's not just car owners that are not 'sanyasis' - pedestrians & bus users are non-sanyasis too. We may have our cars (I have too), but must be prepared to pay costs for adding to the congestion!

rackstar - I think you mistakenly believe that 'progress' means only big roads, underpasses & automobile related infrastructure development. Well, development also includes many other priorities that cannot be termed 'stone age'.

Nobody says that cities must not have a good road network - they are essential too as long as there are measures to restrain uncontrolled traffic growth, but all Indian cities have been favoring only these types of infrastructure with no control whatsoever & left out all others - this is why we see more & more congestion, despite so many additions. Have you ever pondered over why sidewalks are non-existent or of such poor quality in every city ? Why are there no bicycle lanes ? Why does public transport have to be mixed with private transport in the congestion, though they carry hundreds at a time & cause the least congestion or pollution ?

For your understanding, car based urban development is now viewed as regressive due to the street congestion & the excessive /harmful air & environmental pollution that they cause. Most cities (outside India) have been promoting cleaner & better means of transport, such as metro, BRT, etc. Even America, the country that has long been dependent on cars, is finally taking steps to restrict car use & promote public transport.

In India (& China), we still continue to believe that only cars or private vehicles as signs of development - this is not so. When measures are taken for development, the trend has to be to first address means that are least congesting or polluting & then take care of others, but our priorities being lop-sided, we have been doing it the other way, & this is why we can never get rid of congestion.

Noida may build big roads that might thrill you, but how long will these last before more becomes necessary ?