Land is valuable in all urban areas. Parking places occupy large portions of such land. This fact should be recognized in determining the principles for allocation of parking space.

Levy of a high parking fee, that truly represents the value of the land occupied, should be used as a means to make the use of public transport more attractive. Preference in the allocation of parking space for public transport vehicles and non-motorized modes as well as easier access of work places to and from such spaces would go a long way in encouraging the use of sustainable transport systems. Park and ride facilities for bicycle users, with convenient inter-change, would be another useful measure. Simultaneously, a graded scale of parking fee, that recovers the economic cost of the land used in such parking, should be adopted. The objective would be to persuade people to use public transport to reach city centers.

State governments would be required to amend building bye laws in all million plus cities so that adequate parking space is available for all residents / users of such buildings. To enable this, FAR norms would be made more liberal. Multi-level parking complexes should be made a mandatory requirement in city centers that have several high rise commercial complexes. Such complexes could even be constructed underground, including below areas declared as green belts in the master plan. Such complexes could come up through public-private partnerships in order to limit the impact on the public budget. All such parking complexes would be encouraged to go in for electronic metering so that is there is better realization of parking fees to make the investments viable and also a better recovery of the cost of using valuable urban space in the parking of personal motor vehicles. In residential areas too, appropriate changes in bye-laws would be considered to free the public carriage way from parked vehicles that impede the smooth flow of traffic. Proposals for parking complexes would also be given priority under the National Urban Renewal Mission. Provisions would also be made in the appropriate legislation to prevent the use of the right of way on road systems for parking purposes.

As economic activities in cities expand and city population grows, a substantial amount of freight traffic would be generated. The timely and smooth movement of such freight is crucial to the well being of the people and the viability of the economic activities they undertake. However, with limited capacity of the transport system, it is essential that freight traffic and passenger traffic are so staggered as to make optimum use of the transport infrastructure. It is a time honored and tested practice to use off-peak passenger travel times to move freight. Many cities have earmarked late night hours for the movement of freight and restricted the entry of heavy vehicles into cities during day time. Further, several cities have by-passes that enable through traffic to go around the city and not add to city traffic. These practices are sound and would be encouraged in all cities. For this purpose, cities would be encouraged to build by-passes, through innovative and viable public - private partnerships. Similarly, facilities for the parking of freight vehicles outside city limits, such as truck terminals, would also be encouraged through public-private partnerships. Proposals for such facilities would be considered under the National Urban Renewal Mission.