Traffic Congestion

THE DARK SIDE OF URBANIZATION-TRAFFIC CONGESTION

“Nobody gives way to anybody. Everyone just angles, points, dives directly toward his destination, pretending it is an all-or-nothing gamble. People glare at one another and fight for maneuvering space. All parties are equally determined to get the right-of-way--insist on it. They swerve away at the last possible moment, giving scant inches to spare. The victor goes forwards, no time for a victory grin, already engaging in another contest of will.”― Andrew X. Pham, 

      

 Traffic Congestion is a serious urban problem. This picture was taken on Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain as I was journeying out of the city towards Diego Martin. It was truly an uncomfortable, frustrating, time consuming venture. To think that people endure that everyday is honestly mind-boggling. In January 2004, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development stated that cities and traffic have developed hand-in-hand since the earliest large human settlements. The same forces that draw inhabitants to congregate in large urban areas also lead to sometimes intolerable levels of traffic congestion on urban streets.

    The many causes of traffic congestion in Port-of-Spain includes the fact that it is the central business district so many people work there and the road system is very narrow. The city does not promote walking so for example a no cars zone does not exist. Also there is a shortage in the availability of off street parking so people park in the streets blocking the roads creating traffic jam. With an increasing population more people own and use private vehicles and disregard public transportation as it is not as efficient as it should be. 

    Traffic congestion can have serious negative impacts. The most obvious one being a stressed and frustrated motorist as time is wasted and in this case may result in late arrivals to meetings or employment causing loss of jobs or disciplinary actions to be taken against them. Additionally it reduces regional economic health and results in a lost of the country's productivity. Furthermore the most detrimental impact is its effect on the environment. Vehicles are left idling for hours releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and increases air pollution. With the pressing issue of climate change and global warming we see how this can be a problem.  It can result in the wearing and tearing of vehicles due to idling and an increase chance of accidents because vehicles are in such close proximity and motorists get tired.

   There have been many failed attempts at curbing traffic congestion in Port-of-Spain. Just last year a new traffic plan was implemented by the Ministry of works and Transportation- whereby Aripita Avenue was made a  one way along with Tragerete Road. Certain streets in Woodbrook was also altered but eventually the traffic plan failed and was reverted to its original status. The water taxi was introduced and runs from San Fernando to Port-of-Spain, it was a good solution but however was not very efficient at times . The bus route which is located along the east-west corridor of Trinidad runs from Port-of-Spain to Arima. The problem with the bus route is that the maxis are limited so they simple cannot support the population of travelers and the buses can only hold a limited number of people. Additionally it is not always on time as it is  extremely sensitive to everything going on in the country. Prolonged rainfall,accidents , strikes, fires etc all disrupt the time schedule of the buses.

    To fix this problem a serious study must be done and the attitude of people must change.  An efficient and reliable public transportation system must exist. We must promote a walking society instead of a ' sit in our cars " society just to get to the grocery or down the road. Furthermore the city should be zoned so that private vehicles are not allowed in various parts. Car pooling should be promoted and citizens should be offered incentives for car pooling or riding their bicycles . But would Trini's ride their bikes to work ? No! because apparently you would be a laughing stock of your office . Trinibagonians like to boast and show off so why should I ride to work when I can drive in my brand new Range Rover or BMW? It is this mindset that we need to change in order to move forward and curb the problem. 

  Lastly, it is all good when said but when it comes time to enforce there is no one to set the example. The wealthy would refuse to use public transport with the poor, government officials would refuse to ride their bikes, or carpool or use public transport. By that the general public would ask " well if they not doing it then why do they want us to do ?" .This is a serious question posed by the public that government officials need to consider when implementing traffic congestion solutions.

    


EXTRA READING
http://www.mariavazphoto.com/curitiba_pages/curitiba_trans.html
A succesful solution to traffic congestion

http://www.newsday.co.tt/business/0,66452.html
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,70804.html

Homelessness

The Dark Side of Urbanisation- Homelessness

             "Like a man who has been dying for many days, a man in your city is numb to the stench.” 
                                                                                             ― Chief Seattle

This image shows two homeless males in the capital city of Trinidad, Port-of-Spain- the left resides on George street and the right Independence Square. The picture on the right specifically shows the mentally of many persons in Trinidad as she just walks by casually completely ignoring the guy. It is not surprising that this happens, our culture has become shifted from community based values to individualistic values whereby everyone cares for themselves. Homeless people are often discriminated against, victimized, frowned upon and severely rejected by the public. Societal issues is the major cause of homelessness as there is extreme disparities with respect to the distribution of wealth- cities become developed and the focus is on economic growth and political growth whilst social growth takes a back seat.

  Grant (2008) stated that homelessness in Trinidad is an urban problem , because the urban centers are where the financial exchange takes place and where the action is so therefore it is the place to be in order to survive. He also stated that homeless people are victims of poverty, adult abuse , mental illness, prisons, children's homes, child abuse, domestic abuse and drug abuse.. Gopie ( 2012) emphasized that mental illness is one of the main causes of homelessness in Trinidad. Many citizens that has some sort of mental illness is usually neglected by their family members as they become a burden to them and facilities in Trinidad are in the minority using old methods and are overcrowded. As a result these people are kicked out of their homes and have no where else to live but the streets.

  This is not a problem for Trinidad alone a report by the US Conference of Majors on 26 December 2012: showed that despite the dwindling resources, US cities are facing an increasing demand to provide emergency food and shelter to poor. In its annual report on hunger and homelessness, the US Conference of Mayors noted that in more than 64 per cent of cities homeless families were being turned away by emergency shelters because no beds were available. Additinally emergency kitchens and food pantries in many cities had to serve smaller meals to clients. In many instances the lack of resources meant people in need had to be turned away.This problem is not restricted to Trinidad it is worldwide and as urban centers continue to grow and expand homelessness would continue to thrive.

 Ones attitude needs to checked when dealing with the issue of homelessness. In Trinidad the stigma against vagrants is so strong and we as a  people fail to see human beings suffering on our streets. Instead we see helpless subhumans that bought this problem on themselves. Even though yes some of the vagrants in Trinidad are drug abusers and alcohol abusers there is no substantial help for them to cure them of their addiction. The saying goes you cannot help someone who does not to help themselves but, homeless people because of how they look and smell are denied access to health care and other basic needs therefore because we turn them away initially it is only natural that their response is to disregard us. It is truly sad and heartbreaking that we as people can ignore and watch blankly other human beings like ourselves suffer on the streets with broken bones, mentally illness and various illness and say comfortably that they put themselves there so why should I care.  Until our attitudes are changed and wealth is distributed evenly within a country then homelessness would continue to increase.


“For those who are lost, there will always be cities that feel
like home.”― Simon Van Booy
We are in danger of making cities places where business goes on but where life in its real sense is lost- Hurbert H. Humphery

Extra Reading 
http://www.catholicnews-tt.net/archives/08/08/03/viewpoint.htm
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/Tackling_homelessness_in_T_T-160782245.html
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,75537.html

Loss of Culture

The Dark Side Of Urbanisation-Loss of Culture 

Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody only because and when they are created by everybody-Jane Jacobs

     Mc Donalds, T.G.I. Fridays, Wendys and Pollo Tropical are all representatives of Transnational Co-operations. These are companies that operate in more than one country with its  headquarters in a main country like the U.S.A. or Japan for example and has been facilitated by globalisation. This picture shows how Trinidad and Tobago is being bombarded by these companies and losing its food one of our important cultural aspects. Subway, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Church's Chicken, Ruby Tuesdays, Pizza Hut, Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's, Haagen Dazs, ColdStone and Yougart Land are some of the foreign entities destroying our local cuisine. It is extremely sad and frustrating to see the city being overcrowded by these foreign entities and has me wondering what is happening to our local dishes. These restaurants are mainly fast foods hence promoting an unhealthy lifestyle Additionally because they are abundant and easily accessible it promotes families to not cook food and eat out on a constant basis slowly but surely depleting their health . The creole food industry is under intense competition and owners are forced to make their restaurants meet the standards of these transnational co-operations and as a result the prices are ridiculous and locals could barely afford.

   
Apart from the local food industry the malls are being filled with foreign clothing companies such as Kenneth Cole and Guess just to name a few and brands such as Nike  Adidas  Puma, Aeropostale are the leading brands for men of this day. Everyone worldwide looks the same therefore killing individual identities. Furthermore local hotels and guest houses are being replaced by 5 star hotels such as Hyatt regency, Hilton and Marriott. Our festivals are also being influenced. Carnival- Trinidad and Tobago's biggest cultural festival is losing its originality and identity. 

  
   This festival is mainly celebrated in the capital city Port-of-Spain and comprises of many various elements from the steel pan to calypsonians, soca and costumes. The costumes are becoming more indecent following the style of Brazil,  local costume makers are going out of business as they are now being made in china, traditional carnival characters are scarce and the music has a pop sense to it . Although these mechanisms are putting carnival on the world map you can no longer look at the festival and say yes, that is from Trinidad when you are seeing distinct varying elements a clear sign of identity and culture loss.

  
 I am not saying no to globalisation or the idea of being influenced by other places and spaces however, the negative effects must be taken into consideration and its effects needs to be understood by policy makers, the government and the people. The New York state university asks if globalisation is the integration of economic,political and cultural systems across the globe or is it the dominance of developed countries in decision making at the expense of the poorer, less developed, less powerful nations ? Is it a force for economic growth, prosperity and democratic freedom or a force for environmental devastation and   exploitation of the developing world?  Lastly who really and truly benefits from globalisation ? 

 Unfortunately cities are losing their identity and the culture is being lost as more and people entertain the idea that the global north is supreme and disregard their own. Until that mentality is lost I believe that cities would continue to become Americanize and its original culture would be lost completely.

 “By its nature, the metropolis provides what otherwise could be given only by traveling; namely, the strange.” 
― Jane Jacobs