Car population growth a concern
THE rapid growth of the vehicle population in this country is a cause for concern.
Delivering the keynote address at the National Consultation on Domestic Transport held yesterday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance, Dr. William Duguid, said while this issue is not one that is unique to Barbados, it cannot be allowed to go unchecked.
He made the point while noting that in China for example, the car population grows at more than 20 per cent a year, reducing traffic in major cities in that country to a mere 5-kilometre per hour, and in the United States, he said the “congestion invoice” stands at $78 billion per year. While not providing specific comparisons to Barbados, he said that the vehicle population at present is a whopping 120 000 and still more Barbadians are buying vehicles.
“The effects are telling. Congestion levels have increased with more roads congested during the peak hours. Traffic congestion is not only frustrating to the road user, but it also hurts the environment unnecessarily, wastes time, fuel and in some cases patience on the road. With business, government and schools’ normal daily operations starting generally around 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. and finishing around 5:00 p.m., traffic conditions during these morning peak times, for both users of private cars as well as public transport commuters, are generally at gridlock,” Duguid added.
The Minister, lamenting that motorists spend too much time in traffic jams, said it is imperative that Barbados seeks urgently to deal with its own congestion invoice and the associated congestion costs. He made the point while indicating that the ministry has continued to use its staff to analyse traffic flows and implement appropriate traffic management techniques, such as the new roundabout at the Villages at Coverley.
“…As more and more Barbadians own cars, it is clearly not possible for all of them to drive their cars to and from work every day. The only way to move large numbers of people efficiently in our densely populated city is by public transport. It is therefore critical that we make public transport much more attractive to the vast majority of Barbados, including those who have access to cars,” he said.
Minister Duguid’s comments came as he also noted that the more cars Barbadians own, the more extensive the fuel tax coverage and the higher the charges would have to be. He said this is the key trade-off we would have to make to maintain smooth flowing roads, but explained that even with more extensive fuel tax, the current vehicle growth rate is unsustainable, given the already large vehicle population and the slowdown in road growth.
“We have to lower our vehicle growth. These are not easy issues, but we have to make these dif-ficult decisions and act decisively to manage car growth and usage, to ensure that Barbadians will continue to enjoy a quality living environment,” he insisted. (JRT)