Part 2:Every day tens of thousands join the glacial commute into Port-of-Spain. Consider if you will, people living in east Trinidad; St Augustine, Tunapuna, Trincity, Arima and beyond.
By 6.30 am, the flow of traffic is already congealed. In many cases it's one person to a vehicle. No one is suggesting that road congestion can be eliminated. We can, though, reduce the amount of time consumed by this motoring miasma that diminishes our lives.
As indicated in my previous column, tackling the traffic scourge requires a willingness to embrace ingenuity (something for which we have a particular disdain in this country).
I touched, latterly, on the Priority Bus Route malls, many of which aren't fit for purpose. These facilities, if the will can be mustered, should be transformed into modern transit hubs.
The government might even consider stoking private sector interest in a management arrangement.
Air-conditioned buildings, Wi-Fi, coffee and sandwich shops, newspaper and magazine stands; create incentives for people to leave their vehicles at home, abandoning the worry of driving and parking to ebullient bus drivers.
It was suggested some time ago that the way to cut down on the number of cars on the road was to remove the fuel subsidy altogether. It is true that cheap fuel affords us less thought about how to use our vehicles.
The difficulty is, without a viable alternative, motorists will pay through their noses for gas if it means avoiding the horrors of a stretched, and in some places, completely inadequate public transportation system.
The Public Transport Service Corporation has been adding new buses to its fleet, but more are needed. Hand in hand with that need is the demand for a reliable scheduling system.
Commuters need to know that their bus will be on time, or show up in the first place, if they are to release the death grip on their car keys.
Such measures can build confidence in public transportation and change the mindset of a country enamoured of vehicles.
A government and private sector partnership can work to combat traffic congestion in other ways. The state can, for example, create an environment that encourages local online shopping. The trend is already taking root, albeit to the howls and wails of the local business community as they are losing out to any number of insidious, foreign online retail giants. If we develop the same structure for online purchases in this country, local commerce can muscle in on the act, offering their goods online, complimented by delivery services.
In more advanced economies, you can order groceries on the interwebs and have them brought to your door, obviating the need for a lone motorist to worsen traffic congestion, all in a quest for a dozen eggs and some laundry detergent.
Hell, when I was in Canada, you could actually order booze (over the phone) and have it delivered. Can you imagine what that would mean for us? Fewer people would be leaving limes absolutely blotto, weaving their drunken way to the rumshop or grocery to get even more blotto.
This idea can be applied to all sorts of consumer goods, not the blotto part.
Major retailers of appliances can set up Web sites which customers can browse from the comfort of their own homes.
How much time is lost standing like a muppet on the shop floor hoping to flag down the attention of swamped sales reps, only to discover that the make and model you're looking for is out of stock?
A Web site with all the specs on refrigerators, flat screen TVs and couch sets would detail price and availability. The shopper simply places the order through the Internet, pays with a credit card and Uncle Grandpa!
The item is delivered precisely one day after you took time off from work to receive the delivery (that obviously needs to be fixed).
Online shopping isn't the only sphere of commerce ripe for government collaboration with the private sector. Businesses can be offered tax incentives for staggered work shifts and teleworking solutions.
Companies will not, of their own volition, release their hold on traditional modes of work. As a society that bucks violently against evolution, it is difficult to contemplate any arrangement beyond punching a clock in the morning and afternoon, even if nothing significant is accomplished between those periods.
Any measure which reduces traffic will ultimately lead to increased productivity which, theoretically, will be reflected in the country's economic fortunes.
The state should lead the charge in this respect and institutionalise this shift through public education campaigns which demonstrate the many advantages staggered work shifts offer.
Prising ourselves out of terminal gridlock means thinking outside of the clocks.
At a figure of 700,000 registered vehicles, there is neither enough aggregate in our mountains nor asphalt in the pitch lake that can build us a highway out of this motoring hell.
On islands as small as ours, we must explore a range of options to confront out traffic woes.?