The municipal corporation has started a new on-street smart flap parking facility for 280 cars along C.G. Road from Stadium Crossroads to Panchvati Crossroads.

The facility was launched at a cost of over Rs 250 million (mn) and features an automated digital locking system that engages when a vehicle is parked and releases only after digital payment. Cash will not be accepted.

The experiment began after the facility remained closed for six months because no agency was available to operate it and has been activated following the appointment of an operator. Sensor-based flap barriers lock vehicles on arrival and the parking duration is calculated automatically when a motorist returns. The barriers unlock only after payment is made via UPI or other digital methods.

Similar smart parking facilities previously introduced by the municipal corporation in other areas are currently lying unused owing to limited public response. The first smart facility was launched on Sindhubhavan Road two years ago but the digital locks have since been removed. Multilevel parking structures have been built at more than four locations, including Navrangpura and Kankaria, yet those projects are also proving unsuccessful. The city has more than 175 municipal parking locations with capacity for 42,991 two-wheelers and 10,860 four-wheelers.

Despite earlier setbacks, the municipal corporation intends to roll out smart parking at 50 more locations as part of its parking management programme. Several completed sites remain unopened: the Prahladnagar facility has been closed for a long time, the Makarba site was completed four to five months ago but has not been opened, and the facility near SOBO Centre in Bopal has been closed for the past six months. The current C.G. Road experiment will be monitored for user uptake and operational readiness. The corporation hopes that appointing operators and promoting digital payment will improve utilisation of the smart parking network.