by John Farmer
There has been a lot of press coverage lately about the so-called "traffic problem" in New Providence. The Tribune published an article early in the week following an interview with a civil servant in the Road Traffic department. According to this gentleman, the population of NP will be reduced as everyone moves out to take up those jobs-to-be in the Out Island anchor projects, hence alleviating the traffic problem. Let's not hold your breath waiting for that to happen!
The reality is the traffic problem is a result of a non-existent public transportation service (I do not classify the Jitney "service" as "public" transport), particularly with regard to the schools. As any worker in Nassau will tell you, there is no "traffic problem" when the schools are out. Therefore the first step towards alleviating the problem would be to develop a school bus system.
This could be best achieved by staggering the starting times for school, say primary at 8, middle at 9, and high school at 10 (teenagers need their sleep anyway), ending them at 3, 4 and 5. Have dedicated shcool buses, if necessary with a policeman or security guard on board to maintain discpline and order. Assign designated pickup and dropoff points on major traffic arteries, so Mom and Dad can drop the kids off at the collection point on the way to work and pick them up on the way back. It is not reaaly difficult to organise or execute.
It would also be nice if, in conjunction with that, we actually did have a real public transport system rather than the current abortion of private bus systems running (supposedly) routes they have paid a franchise fee for, employing in many cases drivers whose interests lay least with the lives and safety of their passengers. But, alas, the our polical climate leaves little room for putting that specific genie back in the bottle.
