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.
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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.
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.
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 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
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