Government is proposing a national transportation mobility plan that would identify strategies to address the traffic gridlock on the island’s roads.
Senior Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for coordinating infrastructural projects, Dr. William Duguid, gave the undertaking recently while addressing Barbados Town Planning Society’s (BTPS) World Town Planning Day Symposium under the theme: Decarbonising Barbados: Impacts for Physical Planning, Green Transport and Mobility.
The forum, sponsored by the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Efficiency, was held at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, Hastings, Christ Church.
Dr. Duguid told his audience that over the last 20 years, Barbados had experienced significant and “disconnected suburban growth”. This growth, he noted, when combined with the doubling number of cars, had resulted in per-hour gridlock and increasing levels of congestion almost everywhere on the island.
He stressed that while additional roads might not help to ease the traffic situation, introducing park-and-ride systems and water taxis could help with traffic management.
Dr. Duguid stated: “Right now, the system has a strong reliance on private cars. However, we expect to develop a national transportation mobility plan that will guide future investment. We will propose transportation strategies at the island scale.
“It was well demonstrated that constructing new roads alone will not solve our transport challenges. There must be a change in emphasis towards mobility, shifting the focus from planning for cars to planning a network where there is a transportation choice for people and goods…”
The Minister pointed out that Barbados’ land use planning, through a physical development amendment for 2023, must include a range of transportation strategies that introduce different modes which are appropriate to the context.
“These include a reliable and effective transit network, urban transportation management strategies, introducing park-and-ride locations at key junctures, advancing existing planned transportation . . . and introducing water taxis and ferry services,”
Dr. Duguid noted, adding that additional modes would not only help to move people and goods, but would also help to counteract the problem of chronic non-communicable diseases by encouraging Barbadians to use more active forms of transportation.