Many New Providence parents are expected to face serious traffic congestion again during the approaching school year because no unified public transportation system will be in place.
But an official of the Transportation Policy and Planning Unit (TPPU) of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation said the unit has made recommendations to help improve the situation.
“If we were to improve the public transportation system this would reduce congestion tremendously,” said Errol McPhee, coordinator of the unit.
“We could provide a scheduled bus service to make it more attractive for people to use, and I am sure that the public would use it. This would significantly reduce the number of vehicle trips [and] traffic congestion.”
The idea to put in place a unified public transportation system is not a new one.
Mr. McPhee said the unit was established in part to focus on the feasibility of implementing such a system.
“We can also use the public transport system in conjunction with the school transport system to alleviate the amount of trips on the road,” Mr. Mcphee said.
“For example, public transportation can transport students to the various schools once the arrangements are made between the government and school committees who are supposed to make arrangements for school transfers.
“Another recommendation that is perhaps not as popular is placing a cap on the number of cars imported per family. We can enact appropriate legislation that can allow this to happen. This would of course be done incrementally because of the nature of Bahamians to want their own vehicles. This would definitely significantly reduce traffic growth and congestion.”
Mr. McPhee said studies have shown that there are many factors that significantly contribute to bumper-to-bumper traffic in New Providence. But he said the lack of or the improper use of roads in New Providence is not considered one of them.
“I do not think that the problem here in New Providence is the amount of roads or lack thereof,” he said.
“I think we need to implement some policy initiatives to reduce the number of vehicles or implement a significant public transport system that is reliable, scheduled and safe so that Bahamians would leave their cars at home. Where are we going to find more land to put roads? We need property to build homes.”
He said that carpooling is an option that many more motorists ought to be considering because it could decrease the stress of high gas costs to drivers.
By: Perez Clarke, The Bahama Journal
