Robinson bats for new policies to address traffic congestion
Published:Thursday | October 26, 2023 | 12:07 AM
JULIAN ROBINSON, the member of parliament for St Andrew South Eastern, wants the Government to introduce policy changes that will ensure that infrastructure keeps pace with development in the Corporate Area to alleviate chronic traffic congestion.
In his contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in Gordon House yesterday, Robinson recommended that the Government commission a study to determine the feasibility of installing light rails in the Kingston Metropolitan region as a means of reducing traffic congestion and improving public transportation.
Robinson is also blaming traffic woes in the Corporate Area on the Government’s transportation policy.
He told legislators that it currently takes more than an hour to travel from one section of his constituency, Matilda’s Corner, down Hope Road to Half-Way Tree in the evening.
According to Robinson, that journey would take 10 minutes on a clear day.
He said the traffic congestion was having a negative impact on productivity and quality of life, as residents spend hours on the road commuting to and from school and work.
Robinson argued that the lack of sufficient investment in the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) Limited had resulted in the entity operating at 40 per cent of its capacity.
“At the same time, the Government has doubled the number of licences issued to private passenger vehicles. What this means is that persons must wait hours at a bus stop for a JUTC bus, and invariably will be forced to take a taxi to ensure they reach school or work on time,” he said.
The St Andrew South East MP said this also has the effect of forcing the commuter to pay increased transport costs for utilising taxis instead of buses.
Further, he said, increased competition among taxis to get commuters leads to indiscipline on the roads.
Robinson, who is also the opposition spokesman on finance, questioned what plans were being put in place to address an expected sharp increase in traffic volume owing to the spike in high-rise developments.
He gave an example of the impact development was having on traffic infrastructure in his constituency.
“When a three-quarter acre single-family home is converted to a 10-storey, 50-unit apartment building, we have moved from two cars to approximately 75 cars (1.5 cars per unit) coming from the same location. Who is thinking about these issues, and what plans are in place to manage it?” he questioned.
He also pointed to water infrastructure and the impact the conversion of a single-family home to a 50-unit apartment building will have on the already stretched water resources.
“We are moving from a single household of five persons using water to approximately 100 persons in multiple dwellings. How will our water provision keep pace with this growth and development?” he asked.
He noted that, in spite of the increased rainfall and the heightened levels of storage at both the Hermitage Dam and the Mona Reservoir, residents in his constituency are still experiencing water lock offs at 2 p.m.
Robinson urged the National Water Commission to ease the restrictions on his constituents.
“If we are struggling now to meet the current needs, how will we meet the increased usage when all these developments are completed?” he asked.
While acknowledging that some new capacity is being brought on stream, Robinson said it was nowhere near enough to address the burgeoning problem.