The Bengaluru Traffic Police is now in talks with cab aggregators including Ola and Uber regarding parking spaces for cabs in areas with high commercial activity. On Friday, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) met with Ola and Uber representatives and discussed various policy-related issues of cab aggregators including parking spaces. The meeting comes in the wake of the Karnataka Transport Department’s decision to ban share taxi services.
“There was a discussion on a proposal where Ola and Uber would have to provide parking spaces for their cabs in commercial areas like CBD, Koramangala, Jayanagar and the like. We have also discussed various passenger-safety issues and have asked Ola and Uber to give us an action-taken report,” Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) South-East division, Siddalingappa ST said.
However, traffic police say that the proposal was meant to reduce vehicular congestion on the roads, especially in commercial areas where the roads are small and vehicle count is high.
“Ola and Uber cab drivers have their vehicles parked along the roadsides. In commercial areas, this becomes a hassle for pedestrians and vehicles to move. Besides, the roads are not wide enough to allow for parking. So, it was discussed. If Ola and Uber find alternatives then we welcome suggestions,” a senior Traffic Police official said.
An Ola spokesperson, however, said that the company had introduced the share taxi service as a measure to fight vehicular congestion in the city, which was recently banned by the state’s Transport Department.
“We have always focused our efforts to build mobility solutions that ease traffic congestion. Shared mobility offerings such as Ola Share and Ola Bike had reduced the number of vehicles on the road and are also popular in cities where regulation exists. We are engaged in constructive conversations with relevant authorities and look forward to collaboratively build a sustainable transport ecosystem for Bengaluru,” a statement from Ola said.