Kingston is an example of weak spatial planning

Commuters in Kingston waste several hours daily in traffic. Persons are often late for school, work and appointments. At particular times there is gridlock and total chaos on the streets. This traffic situation needs to be addressed by the police, the NWA and the powers that be.

Kingston – a traffic nightmare

15 Oct 2022

TRAFFIC MOVEMENT and its organisation tell a story about a society. When the traffic system is properly organised, more people have access to better jobs, educational opportunities, and facilities such as healthcare and leisure. A wellthought-out spatial plan provides the requisite support for the country’s economic and social development.

On the other hand, social order and safety are seriously compromised when our transportation system is marred by traffic snarls and gridlock. The pollution spewed from cars is one of the least considered consequences. As well, people are late for work and others are likely to miss appointments.

Kingston, at this time, offers a special example of weak spatial planning, evidenced by the fact that there are various intersections in the nation’s capital where motorists have dispensed with traffic regulation, replacing it with aggression in an environment where ‘might is right’.

These drivers are highly predictable. They are unlikely to adhere to the seatbelt rule, will cut through petrol stations, will create additional lanes, will overtake on the right, and might be driving while talking on their phones or after having had too many drinks, the kind of recklessness that endangers other people’s lives.

For its part, the commuting public has felt the pain of this nightmare, having to spend hours to get public transport. Some complain that they languish at bus stops for up to three hours in the mornings and again in the evenings. That adds up to 30 hours in a five-day workweek. Mass transportation is woefully inadequate. So, increasingly, people are turning to private means to get them to where they want to go.

The result is that there are times of the day when there are more cars on the road than is spatially practical, enough to create chaos. Added to this, we have situations where there are no traffic lights, no police presence, and poor road surfaces, all the ingredients that make for traffic nightmares.

Those who are old enough to remember the days of the Jamaica Omnibus Service (JOS) will recall a time when public transportation operated by a timetable and was dependable. It was wound up in 1983 and replaced by Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) which is still trying to be that efficient, safe and reliable system to serve the majority.

What then is the solution? How do we bring an end to traffic congestion which degrades the quality of life and leaves so many people on edge? Do we continue to watch hopelessly while the fabric of society continues to unravel?

Aggression and lawlessness on the streets are the first battle that the Government has to win if its intention is to return Jamaica to a near-normal place. The police, as the agency of law and order, have a big role to play in steadying the national nerve.

Here, we are specifically calling out the Police Traffic Department and urging them to enforce the law and bring back public order to the streets of Kingston and other urban areas where there is chaos on a breathtaking scale.

Roads are the province of the National Works Agency (NWA) and they deserve a call out too, because their response to damaged roads is way too tardy. It is a simple fact that, the longer potholes are left unfixed, the more resources will eventually be required to repair them.

So, with deft and firm handling by the police, quick response by the NWA, and the determination by the administration to correct the situation, just maybe the fight for the nation’s soul will be won.

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