BY Hugo Maynard
There was no earthquake, no hurricane and no national disaster. There were road accidents. Yet on Tuesday morning, September 29, that was enough to push parts of Trinidad’s road network towards paralysis.
From as early as 5 a.m. motorists heading west along the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway were trapped in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Other crashes affected the Uriah Butler Highway, Maloney and the Diego Martin Highway. At least four non-fatal accidents were reported, and some commuters reached their destinations about two hours later than usual.
That should trouble us, not because accidents are unusual, but because they are not. If four road accidents can place this much pressure on our transportation system, what happens when the emergency is real?
We have become dangerously accustomed to traffic. We leave earlier, call the office, message the school and eventually continue with our day. Congestion has become something we endure rather than seriously interrogate.
Tuesday should be different. It tested how quickly this country can recognise a developing transportation crisis, coordinate a response and communicate with the public.
The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation opened the westbound Priority Bus Route from Arima to Abattoir Road, Port of Spain, to light motor vehicles from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Opening the PBR was sensible. The route is officially described as a major road artery designed to move large numbers of people efficiently.
But the issue is not whether the PBR was eventually opened.It is when.
Serious congestion was being reported from around 5 a.m. The special opening began at 8:30 a.m. That is three and a half hours later.
This does not prove officials knew at 5 a.m. how serious the situation would become. But it does justify questions.
When did the authorities realise this was more than an ordinary traffic build-up? When did they recognise that separate accidents were beginning to overlap? When was the PBR decision made? And when was the public told?
There is a difference between having an emergency response and being emergency-ready.
Tuesday suggests we have the former. The latter is less clear.
