Without a doubt, the traffic gridlock in our country has escalated. To say that it is now a serious problem, not just in the capital, Port of Spain but across the country, is an understatement.

Though we see the frustration on everyone’s face each day, the Chamber would like us to really consider the impact of congestion not just on national productivity levels and firm competitiveness, but on our quality of life.

To understand the national dilemma that we currently face, the Chamber’s Research, Publications & Information Unit asked three working couples to keep a diary over a twoweek period, recording their routine activities to-and-from work. In addition to the diaries, we conducted more than 25 telephone interviews with professionals.

Our key objective in conducting this exercise was two-fold: first and foremost, we wanted to gauge the average amount of time that working people across the country spend in traffic. Second, we wanted to record the impact of traffic congestion on the time we spend with our families and friends.

In essence, we were hoping to answer the following questions.

• What impact is traffic having on our lives?

• Is traffic affecting people’s decisions to interact with one another?

• Are employees more stressed when they arrive at work because of traffic problems, and does that then affect the rest of their day?

• Are mothers and fathers returning home stressed because of traffic?

• Are they spending less time at home with their children and more time on the road?

The following table extracts portions of the logs kept by two of the three families.

Interestingly, the third couple who had agreed to do this exercise decided to migrate to Canada (we are yet to find out if keeping a daily log had anything to do with it!), and as a result was unable to complete their diary.

A day in the life of two working women Sunita is a 31 year-old mother of a six yearold daughter. She commutes from Central to Westmoorings everyday. This is what her day looks like:

• 4.00 a.m.: Awake to cook and prepare daughter and husband for school and work, respectively.

• 5.05 a.m.: Leave home in the dark, yet again. Leave my sleeping child, yet again.

• 5.25 a.m.: Sitting in a POS taxi after having to rush to get in.

• 6.25 a.m.: Arrive in downtown POS. Now need to get another taxi into the West.

• 6.45 a.m.: Arrive at work. First, call home to speak to my daughter because I feel guilty since I don’t usually see her when I leave for work. I don’t spend time with her.

• 7.00 a.m.: Work commences.

• 3.00 p.m.: Usually my allotted time to leave the office but cannot do so because of work emergency.

• 5.15 p.m.: Leave work.

• 6.10 p.m.: I am now downtown, totally angry about the traffic on Wrightson Road.

• 6.30 p.m.: I am still on South Quay waiting for a Chaguanas taxi.

• 7.30 p.m.: I have just arrived in Chaguanas.

My husband is waiting on the taxi stand for me. Once again when I get home my daughter is asleep. I sit down to review her school bag and see that she has completed all of her homework.

• 8.45 p.m.: I have dinner and begin preparing for tomorrow morning.

• 10.00 p.m.: I turn in.

Rachel is a 27 year-old mother of a four yearold.

She lives in Arima and commutes into Port of Spain daily. This is what her day looks like:

• 4.45 a.m.: Awake. Have exactly 35 minutes to prepare my husband and son’s lunches and get ready for work.

• 5.30 a.m.: Leave home in the dark again.

Head to the Arima taxi stand to wait/hustle for a maxi taxi.

• 5.40 a.m.: The crowd is over 100 persons.

Hoping and praying that the maxi stops close to me so I can just jump in. Luck is key!

• 6.15 a.m.: I arrive at City Gate. I now need to get another taxi into the West.

• 6.55 a.m.: I finally arrive at work, sweating and tired to say the least.

• 7.00 a.m.: Hustle to call my son to ensure that he is awake and getting ready for school.

My husband has to get him ready for school.

• 3.45 p.m.: I leave work and head for taxi to City Gate. The traffic on Wrightson Road is horrendous.

• 4.30 p.m.: I am now at City Gate. Again there is a big crowd and the rush begins again. I need to push to get into a maxi taxi.

• 5.05 p.m.: I finally board the maxi, heading on the Priority.

• 5.15 p.m.: We are stuck at the Beetham to Barataria stretch.

• 6.20 p.m.: I have finally reached Arima.

• 6.35 p.m.: Waiting for a taxi to take me home.

• 6.55 p.m.: I am home. I need to prepare dinner quickly and spend some time with my son. He has started his homework already.

• 7.30 p.m.: We eat dinner.

• 8.00 p.m.: I put my son to sleep.

• 8.30 p.m.: I begin preparations for the next day.

• 9.30 p.m.: I head for some sleep.

So what can we learn from these diary entries and the numerous telephone interviews we conducted?

Key Findings

• Only a few firms have implemented the flexi-time work option.

• In the cases where the flexi-time option was used, it was difficult to measure its effectiveness in promoting social welfare.

• The average time spent to-and-from work on a daily basis was approximately five hours. Time is money! For a professional earning a monthly salary of $15,000 or $85.20 per hour, five hours per day over 22 working days translates into about $9,372 lost per month or $112,464 a year.

• Most families from Central with children going to school in Port of Spain leave home between 5:30-6:00 a.m. Many of these children are asleep in the car. One father remarked that he knew something was wrong with his family’s lifestyle, when his 7 year-old son asked him, “Daddy, it don’t have sun in Chaguanas?

• Traffic congestion is affecting the balance between work and family life. Most people we spoke to complained of frustration and stress as a result of sitting idle in traffic for hours.

• More than 80% of the persons we spoke to were concerned about the impact of the exhaust fumes on their children.

• More than 65% of the persons interviewed said they suffer from road rage.

• Parents are in fact spending less time with their children and are feeling more and more guilty about this.

Though we do not have any scientific research to fully assess the impact of traffic gridlock on the quality of our lives in this twin island republic, we can benefit from the many studies that have been conducted in North America and Europe. Here’s an extract from the International Stress Management Association’s “Traffic Implications Study” of 2006: Dr. Lewis compared the heart rate and blood pressure of 125 commuters with those of pilots and police officers in training exercises and found the stress levels of commuters were higher in extreme circumstances.

Dr. Lewis concluded that commuters’ stress is worsened by their inability to control their situation. He said commuting makes people feel, “frustrated, anxious and despondent,” and reports of his work add that this dismal experience “may well have health consequences.” The Ontario College of Family Physicians agrees. In their publication on the health impacts of urban sprawl they note that where people are forced to drive everywhere, “more time driving means less time with family and friends, less time for oneself, and less time to engage in community activities. Research shows that urban sprawl commuters spend 3 to 4 times more hours driving than individuals living in well-planned, dense communities”.

“Long commutes, increasing traffic delays and long work hours leave people overwhelmed with time demands. Traffic congestion also impairs health, psychological adjustment, work performance and overall satisfaction with life … Job satisfaction and commitment declines with increased commuting distance on the road” This publication also notes that traffic jams have “adverse effects on blood pressure, mood, frustration tolerance, illness occasions, work absences, job stability and overall life satisfaction.” People suffering these problems may not link them to their daily commute.

Conclusion We are confident that the average citizen can readily identify with these symptoms. And while economic growth can be accompanied by increasing levels of traffic, economic development does not depend on traffic growth. In fact, some economic improvements can be expected from traffic reduction – including increased productivity and effectiveness of the labour force.

However, our intention here is to focus on the social implications of traffic congestion.

We know that the long term consequences of traffic reach far beyond simple economics - without a doubt the negative effect of gridlock seeps into the foundation of our society: people and their families. Therefore solutions must not ignore the individual and the family.

The degree of commitment to solving the congestion problem should be commensurate with the degree to which traffic is proving detrimental to society’s first and most valuable natural resource — families. Thus the onus is on us all. Each and every one of us can assist in solving this problem.