Transport costs taking toll
Published:Friday | July 19, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Paying a toll on Jamaican roads is nothing new, as history tells us that many generations ago this system was in effect on our roadways. This undoubtedly was how the village of Toll Gate in Clarendon got its name. It has always been a controversial matter.
Highways must play a significant role in our development process, but the rising cost of the toll will defeat the purpose if the average motorist is unable to afford it. With a devaluing dollar, there is no telling where the toll will be in, say, five years. As a frequent user of the Vineyards route, I often observe a near-empty highway and a crowded Old Harbour Road, since these days you have to save the pennies where you can. Trucks, other than those owned by large companies, hardly use it. The highway, therefore, can never be profitable and the proposed link to Ocho Rios will not carry the volume of traffic beyond Ewarton to make it so. Maybe if the authorities think of lowering the price and instead going for volume, the rate could be stabilised. If it keeps going up, more motorists will use the alternative routes, longer though they are.
The Jamaica Urban Transit Company says it is feeling the pinch on the Portmore leg, but I am sure it is the unfortunate commuters who will have to pay.
It was my understanding from news reports at the time that the Portmore area should have been developed with a railway operating from Hellshire to Kingston This would have been run similar to a subway, but in its wisdom, the Government scrapped the plan.
Most modern cities have such systems for mass transport and even millionaires use them, as long as they are reliable. Maybe we are asking too much of investors, and that is why they are not attracted to the proposal to reintroduce the system. Since what is left is rusting away and a temptation to scrap-metal thieves, why not give the contract to a serious investor at a peppercorn lease for 25 years before trying to skin them with taxes? A passenger service from May Pen and Linstead into Kingston could minimise the congestion on the road, creating employment and lowering the country's fuel bill.
A city cannot develop without a proper transport system, but it has to be properly thought out.
T. SAMUELS