 |
Photo 9 shows a man riding a bicycle in Charlotte
Street, Port of Spain.
|
The photo shows an example of a mode of transport
(cycling) in Charlotte Street, Port of Spain which is seriously neglected in the
Capital. Public transportation such as buses may have reduced
car usage in the city but they are also a contributing factor to unsustainability
in the city as well. Port of Spain has a high usage of automobiles transport as
a dominant means of mobility. Automobiles such as car and buses require massive
consumption of fuel in order to sustain their use. It has been mentioned that
strategies to improve public transport provision have often resulted in people
switching, not from car travel to public transport, but from other sustainable transport
modes such as cycling (Hall and Barrett 2012, 294). On the other hand, there
seems to be a lack of initiative to implement sustainable forms of transportation
in Port of Spain such as cycling. The governing bodies of Port of Spain have
placed very little emphasis on cycling as a solution to many of the city’s
problems. Cycling is not only a solution to traffic congestion, but it can be
very helpful to minimize fuel consumption, pollution and even improve one’s
physical health.
However, for cycling to
become a practical solution to the problems listed earlier, there needs to be
proper implementation of cycling routes in the city. This could only be achieved
through a collaborative effort among the urban political bodies. First of all,
the local community needs to lobby for such an implementation in order to attract
the attention of the state and even the private sector. The private sector has
much to gain by lobbing for such a mode of transport since businesses have endured
high costs due to traffic congestion (Dekoster and Schollaert 1999, 20). The
local state should make it a mandate to introduce proper cycling systems in
Port of Spain in order to alleviate some of the problems caused by automobile
usage.
References
Dekoster, J., and U. Schollaert.1999. Cycling: The Way
Ahead for Towns and Cities. “Benefits for Companies.” Accessed April 15, 2013. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/cycling/cycling_en.pdf.
Hall, Tim, and Heather Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography 4th edition.
London and New York: Routledge.
One of your course colleagues discusses the costs of retrofitting cycling routes by widening roads, which means buying out people are are currently owning at roadside. She says the costs are prohibitive; however, that does mean they cannot be planned for future developments, eh.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the photo you took seems to be a fellow vending or transporting with his bike -- note the container at the front.
Can you find any links to cycling advocates in TT?