A CAR IN EVERY HOME

Jul 19, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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There is a noticeable thinning of the traffic on the East Bank of Demerara and on the East Coast of Demerara now that schools are closed for the July-August vacation.
There is still the build-up during peak hours, but it is by no means as bad as during period when there is school. It shows the impact the school population has on traffic. There is an important lesson there for the authorities in managing traffic flow.
There are large numbers of vehicles on our roadways. This number will continuously increase in the years ahead as more and more Guyanese improve their living standards.
So the roads are not likely to become less congested. In fact given that massive housing schemes are now being constructed on the East Bank of Demerara, the situation is likely to get worse and not better.
It is a sign of personal progress but with this personal progress there can be public problems such as chaos on our roadways.
The government recognizes the gravity of the problem and the need for specified densities so as to make the provision of public services cheaper per capita. As such there will always be a need to concentrate large numbers of persons within specific areas so that it can be feasible to put in the infrastructure and to do so at a low cost.
At the same time, there are certain patterns that are being exhibited with point to solutions. If for example, there can be a total ban on the erection of new businesses on the East Bank Public Road between Grove and Ruimveldt, this will make it easier for traffic since all it takes is one vehicle to block a lane for their to be a huge build up of traffic.
Another solution would be for the conversion of some of the schools on the East Bank and upper East Coast into Grade One schools. This is not going to evolve by itself.
The schools would have to be equipped with the best facilities, and specialized teachers more likely recruited from abroad will have to be employed so as to improve the success ratio in those schools.
All it will take is some top performances by two schools each on the East Bank of Demerara and the East Coast of Demerara for there to be a reverse in the traffic flow. Instead of large number of persons having to transport their children to city schools, once there are top grade schools on the East Bank, there will be fewer persons having to travel to school in the city.
Already there is a rush towards a private school on the East Bank since that school produced a number of top students at the recent Common Entrance Examination and therefore many parents are flocking that school to get places for their children.
While the government may feel that in the long term it will have to build an alternative road to cater for the anticipated growth in vehicular traffic and while it has indicated that a railway may have to be constructed to move large number of persons, there are short -term solutions which can cut the time people spend on the roadways.
Now that school is out, the authorities should clearly study the traffic patterns since it does indicate that the school population contributes to the congestion during peak hours.
Even though most schools commence classes one hour after most places commence work, it is clear from the reduction in traffic at this time that large numbers of school children use the roadways during peak hours and limiting this could ease traffic woes.
It is also clear that the creation of industrial zones outside of the city is along term solution but will not impact on the short term since many persons are already working in the urban areas and therefore have to commute to these zones each day.
The creation of new industrial zones will assist with future employment but may not reduce the present flow because persons are not likely to leave their existing jobs in numbers simply to take up a job near to where they live.
They may have worked somewhere for years and may have attained a certain level of seniority and years of service and would not wish to sacrifice that simply to work nearer to home.
As such, the government has to look to both long and short term solutions to the traffic solutions and the present breather than they have now that school is out should allow them to accelerate their road widening and expansion programme which is aimed at improving transportation on our roads.
At the rate at which vehicles are being purchased, within the next five years, every single home will have a vehicle. Some already have more than one.
Our roads network was not constructed with this sort of volume in mind. The British never envisaged this degree of personal progress, so the road system was designed for a limited number of vehicles.
The former government’s priority was to expand the road networks to outer areas and therefore it did not predict this degree of personal prosperity whereby every citizen would eventually own a vehicle, and many, more than one.
The problem now has to be addressed and addressed quickly.
Since progress cannot be held back, greater attention needs to be paid to dealing with the problem before it holds back social and economic development.

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