By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

New Providence’s transport system is not supporting its “economic, social, or environmental well-being”, an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report has affirmed, with the number of cars on-island growing faster than the population.

The Sustainable Nassau Action Plan, developed between 2015 and 2017 but only recently released, revealed that in the ten years prior to its publication the 57,000-strong increase in vehicles on New Providence’s streets outpaced the 50,000-person rise in its population.

“The current mobility and transport system in New Providence does not appear to be supporting the island’s economic, social or environmental well-being. An over-arching mobility strategy for the island is urgently required,” the report concluded. “The ongoing increase in private vehicle ownership and use continues to have a negative effect on citizen safety, air quality, overall quality of life and citizen mobility.

“The existing road network is challenged by a lack of room to expand and traffic is often congested and chaotic. Congestion is a serious problem in that many intersections exceed their design capacity, particularly at noon and between 3pm and 5pm. These inefficiencies negatively impact the island’s economic productivity as working hours are lost, and the cost of operating vehicles to transport goods increases with extended travel times and fuel consumption.

“Congestion is also associated with harmful effects on societal behaviour, public health and road safety, which is further challenged by street designs that do not consider the needs of pedestrians and potential cyclists.”

Focusing on the environmental effects in particular, the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan added: “Increasing motorisation rates (number of passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants), lack of regulation and incentives for cleaner energy in transportation all contribute to CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions. Per capita CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use and cement production in The Bahamas was 11.06 tons in 2014, which is high compared to other small states.

“Some causal factors for these high emission rates appear to include the absence of emission standards regulations, and enforcement of mandatory maintenance for public and private vehicles. Other influencing factors are inadequate measures to improve the efficiency of traffic management and the transportation system.”

Despite the interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, little has changed from the report’s findings and they likely remain as relevant today as they were then. “Public transportation routes have remained essentially unchanged since 2000 despite new growth areas throughout New Providence and changing citizen travel patterns,” the Sustainable Nassau Action Plan said.

“These inefficiencies in the public transport service contribute to the rise in private vehicle ownership, which has increased over the last ten years. The number of vehicle registrations (57,500) has outpaced the growth in population (50,000). Despite the correlation between car ownership and income, as well as high taxes on imported vehicles, ownership remains relatively high in various low income districts of New Providence. 

“The island’s current car dependence, made worse by an inefficient public transportation system, will severely affect the island’s ability to function productively because of increased road congestion. The total New Providence population is expected to grow by approximately 27 percent between 2015 and 2040, and with the private vehicle being the dominant form of transportation, this population growth will lead to continued low-density residential development and dispersed land-use patterns, as well as increased dependency on private vehicles.

“Moreover, the age groups which are expected to increase the most in population size are the 50-64 year olds, and those 65 years and older, with growth rates of 50 percent and 192 percent, respectively, from 2015 to 2040. This aging population stresses the need for improved public transport services and mobility in general, as car use among these demographics decreases because of aging and impairment.”