Levying of hefty road tax, introduction of congestion charge and putting high premium on parking are some of the measures the Centre for Science and Environ-ment has suggested to Delhi government to check growth of private vehicles and overcome the traffic mess in the city.
In a letter to chief minister Sheila Dikshit, CSE citing examples of various cities including London, Stockho-lm and Tokyo, said experience from across the world showed that parking controls, parking pricing along with taxes top the list as first generation car restraint measures.
“With hidden subsidies like low charges for road usage and parking, cars have completely taken over the road space,” the CSE said adding Indian cities charge a “pittance” for road usage and for parking as compared to other world cities which must reverse.
According to statistics, there are nearly 65 lakh vehicles registered in the city while the total number of vehicles in Delhi is more than the total number of vehicles in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.