Post :#1: Traffic Congestion

Waiting to get out!

Although there is the whole new "interchange flyover", every "Trini" acknowledges the fact that there is a severe Vehicular Traffic Problem on the nation's roads, especially when heading to Port of Spain, or as locals call it "Tong". Some of the primary causes will be discussed as well as a few simple measures that could be put in place to curb this problem. Hall and Barrett (2012, 291) stated that the social spaces of city life are also affected by the increasing dominance of the car.

Waiting....

Still Waitng...

Traffic Congestion heading out of the City of Port of Spain

After waiting hours to enter the city of Port of Spain, there is also a huge jam to get out of the city as the traffic crawls or comes to a complete standstill in certain areas. Traffic congestion in the city exists since there is increasing government offices and other essential service providers, termed commercialization, concentrated and compact within  a relatively small land area within and on all the major roads leading to the city causing "back up" on most of the nation's roads. The manner in which pedestrians cross the road very haphazardly also contribute to traffic pile up .

There is also the fact that the traffic mainly occurs at peak hours which is between the hours of 6:30 - 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. what makes the traffic worse is if there is an accident of some sort. There aren't much alternative roads that drivers may take to avoid the traffic. Traffic congestion while entering Port of Spain stems from the lack of available parking spaces for the urban commuters which in turn leads to double- parking, commonly seen along the narrow streets since they weren't originally designed for the exacerbating urbanization of the city.

Additionally, the gasoline subsidy, is another reason why there are so many cars on the road to begin with. As a result of the fact that gasoline consumption is subsidized there is even more gasoline consumption since it becomes so cheap that everyone want to have their very own private vehicle to use whenever and for whatever reason they want. The subsidy therefore indirectly acts as an incentive to use more gasoline. However since people do less of an activity when the penalty or cost increases. If persons in T&T paid the true higher cost of gasoline, there would be a natural decline in gasoline consumption and hence the total number of cars on the road would decrease.

If the subsidies are instantly removed, the commuters, drivers in particular would be forced to be more judicious in whether they opt to use their vehicles. They would suddenly become more aware of what will instantly become a more "scarce or valuable" resource and take steps to minimize its use. They could consider riding bicycles or using motor cycles that are more fuel efficient. These are smaller and would contribute to less cars. The neighbours of a street on which they lived could consider car pooling with different residents for the week. Public transportation is also another option, however this is another cause of traffic congestion. Walking and strategically planning commutes to maximize productivity while on the road are very simple ways to reduce the congestion.

The government officials and other central planners have no drive to truly solve the traffic problem since they are not subjected fully to the negative effects of traffic, therefore why even try to sincerely solve the traffic problem when it doesn't really even affect them. They have access to the Priority Bus Route as well as security escort through traffic, therefore no need to be stuck in traffic like regular commuters. They also have flexible work or office hours or the ability to work from home. They have priority parking privileges in addition to the State providing vehicles. They are also exempted from import tax on vehicles and free gasoline, so they could own as many vehicles as they wish. They also do not face the frustration of having to mash breaks and X since they may even have a driver  or chauffeur. They may also be privileged to have government living accommodation in the city so no need to commute what-so-ever. 

The limited operating hours between 7am to 3pm at major ports results in most truckers, importer and exporters opting to arrange pick up and deliveries at peak traffic times. If transactions could be done freely after hours this would reduce the volume of traffic on the roadways during peak traffic times. 

Most of you Trinbagonians would be shun by the very thought of the fuel subsidy being removed, however if one considers how much valuable time would no longer be wasted in terrible traffic day after day. Consider how much less strain would be placed on families, cars and the environment! Consider how much more efficient you'd be in planning your commutes and errands. 

References

Hall, Tim, and Heather Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography 4th edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Top 10 Most Traffic Congested Cities in the World

Hope you guys find this video as interesting!!!

Why "Behind the City Lights"?

Behind This!

The City of Port of Spain at night! Beautiful, isn't it?

"The city, as one finds it in history, is the point of maximum concentration for the power and culture of a community. It is the place where the diffused rays of many separate beams of life fall into focus, with gains in both social effectiveness and significance."- pg 3. " Today a great many things stand in the way of grasping the role of the city and of transforming this basic means of communal existence. During the last few centuries the strenuous mechanical organisation of industry, and the setting up of tyrannous political states, have blinded most men to the importance of facts that do not easily fit into the general pattern of mechanical conquest, capitalistic forms of exploitation, and power politics. Habitually, people treat the realities of personality and association and city as abstractions, while they treat confused pragmatic abstractions such as ,money, credit, political sovereignty, as if they were concrete realities that had an existence independent of human conventions."- pg 7 - Lewis Mumford, 1938.

From this Academic Article, one can see that although there is a plethora of benefits of urbanization, such as development of infrastructure, increased market potential and employment, there are also profound repercussions. Trending issues to be addressed over the upcoming weeks include traffic congestion, homelessness, unused/ underutilized spaces, street vending in addition to the development of urban slums and other issues along with the most cataclysmic issue of all, crime!

These issues are usually hidden behind the lights, music and 'Trini' cuisine of the 'City'. I intend to expose by flashing the light of a camera on some of the devastating realities of urbanization which will be revealed to you through weekly posts of photographs taken in the City itself. Each entry will include a personal reflection on the photo as it pertains to the urban social and environmental issues affecting not only the capital city, but other cities as urban centers in Trinidad and well. The relationship to urban theory as expressed in text books or academic articles and links or ties to current events, specifically news or pop-culture will be highlighted.

Now here's a Trini Poem by Miguel Browne

A Trini Poem- Miguel Browne
Trinidadians are a special people of dat there is no doubt,
Doh care what odders say of how dey run dey mouth.
But of all de special talents dat we Trinis possess,
Is de way we talk dat ranks us among de best.

At de street corners, in de shop or at work on any given day,
Is to hear us speak and carry on in our own special way.
De colourful words, de antics and de accent all combine,
To create a whole language dat has stood de test of time.
De way we express ourselves and de way we converse,
Is truly an art of which every Trini can boast.
Look at de many words dat we Trinis create,
Just to make it easier for us to communicate.
Words like bobbol, skylark, commess and bobolee,
Are words dat yuh cah find in any English Dictionary.
Coskel, boobooloops, lahay and dingolay,
Mou Mou, bazodie, jagabat and tootoolbay.

So when yuh thin and frail, we say yuh maga or merasme.
And when yuh fat or overweight, we say yuh obzokee.
And when something small, we say chinkey instead.
And we say tabanca when a woman tie up a man head.
And a person who lazy, we call dem a locho.
And an inquisitive person is simply a maco.
Is our colourful history, yes our glorious past,

Dat give us a language dat very few could surpass,
So many Trinis doh speak patois again.
But we use words like doux doux and langniappe all de same.
So mauvais langue is when yuh bad talk people yuh doh even know.
And a lighted torch we still call a flambeau.
Maljo is when yuh put bad eye on everything yuh see.
And when yuh shake and shiver, we call dat malkadee.
And patois give us so much place names like Blanchisseusse and La Fillette.

And left over food from de night before we call macafoucette.
And East Indian words yuh could guess so easy.
Like doolahin, beta, bap and dhoti.
And we love dalporee, bodi and khumar,
Baigan, barra, sahina and kuchela.
Jadoo is magic dat women is use to get dey husband house and car.
And if yuh talking nonsense it so easy to say gobar.
And for animals and fruits look at de names we does use.

De pronunciation and spelling is enough to get yuh confused.
Chenette, pommecythere, pomerac and sour sop.
Pewah, dongs, balata and mammy seepot.
And Trini does hunt for tatoo, agouti and lappe.
And instead of ants, we does say batchac.
Trinis fraid macajuel, batimamselle and crapaud.
And de big black vultures we call corbeaux.
Trini mouth does water for crab and callaloo.

Doh talk 'bout cavindajh, pelau, pastelle and cascadoux.
For seasoning shadow beni beat back all de rest.
While veti-vere does make de clothes smell nice and fresh.
And when we talking is like to a special rhythm dat others doh know.
We have to move de whole body from we head to we toe.
Watch how de hands does move as if we killing flies.
And when we vex is cuya mouth or roll up de eyes.
And sometimes is de mouth alone dat does all de work.
Is to hear us laugh out loud when we hear a good joke.
And when we laughing de mouth does open wider dan a carite.
And when it come out with "Oui Foute" or "Mama Yo" it does sound real sweet.

So doh laugh at we and think we antics funny.
Is what we need and use to talk more effectively.
But watching us talking and moving from right to left,
Yuh swear is sign language to talk to de deaf.
And we have a communication network dat is one of the greatest around.
It beat back any newspaper, TV or computer dat dey have in town.
So Maxie does tell Jane a secret story or a tory.
And in two seconds Jane does run and tell she boyfriend Gary.
And den Gary does tell he partners liming on de corner,
So de whole ah town would know 'bout two hours later.
But when de story reach back to its original source,
Is never de same, it always off course.

Yes, gossip does change a story from a dongs to a grapefruit just so.
Where de new story come from nobody doh know.
So always be careful who yuh liming with and what yuh speak,
'Cause before yuh look good all yuh business on de street.
And when we start to argue is trouble in de gang,
'cause we does argue everything except de issue at hand.
We Trinis does start off on one particular topic,
And in no time at all we does stray from it.
We does go round in circles, yes viky vi.
And end up giving picong and mamaguy.
But when things get heated, den de real trouble does start.

Words harder dan rock stone does pass in de brew.
And if yuh only take sides, yuh go get a good 'busing too.
And some does use de poor ancestors to make dey attack.
Dey would trace de whole family tree from yuh mudder go back.
And when dat doh work, some does turn to the anatomy,
Talking 'bout parts of yuh body dat dey never even see.
And telling stories is a special talent we got.

Trinis could make up a story right dere on de spot.
Listen to a husband when he reach home late,
He would never say dat wid de outside woman he had a date.
He go tell his wife 'bout parang or late night class.
How he working overtime and de car run out of gas.
And when de cocaine disappear from de police station without a trace.
It easy to blame de greedy rats and done de case.
And dats why we does have Commission of Enquiry every odder day.
So each one could tell de same story in a different way.
But when it come to stories, politicians are de very best.
Promising brighter days and a better life and nothing less.
Yes, Trinis smart and it is little wonder den.
Dat up de islands dey does say "Trickydadian."

So talk for we Trinis is a way of life.
Is how we assume ourselves and deal wid strife.
Listen to de sweet talk of a true Trini male,
Dat could win de heart of any Trini female.
And every spectator does turn a coach at a cricket or football match.
Shouting out advice for bad play or dropping a catch.
Man we know how to talk before we could creep.
We could out talk all odders in one clean sweep.
A Trini who cah talk will laugh instead.
And if he cah do dat, he better off dead.