Consider light rail/tram system for public transportation in Kingston

THE EDITOR, Madam:

At the recent launch of the Spark Main Roads programme, there was an interesting announcement of plans to utilise the space above the storm drain system in Kingston to build more roads.

I believe this plan, though well intentioned it may be, is misguided.

Just this past Wednesday, I picked up a family member at the airport. We left the airport at around 6:30p.m. headed for Mandeville. The traffic along Spanish Town Road was horrible and it took us the better part of two hours just to get to Six Miles. The Three Miles flyover was supposed to ease the traffic in this area. It has not.

I have read that there are 200,000 more vehicles on the roads than there were in 2016. From my experience on Spanish Town Road, it would seem most of these vehicles are in the Kingston Metropolitan Area. It is obvious to me that we will not be able to build roads fast enough to keep up with car purchases.

What’s driving the desire to own a car is the lack of a modern reliable public transport system throughout the island. Putting more buses on an already crowded public thoroughfare is not helping.

To solve this problem in Kingston, a two-way light rail/tram system should be considered. Additionally, there should be flyovers for the main roads, to be built atop the extensive storm drains around Kingston. A number of transfer stations would have to be included in the system for it to work efficiently. Its location would lend itself to proper scheduling and this would be an incentive for people to use it. It would move a significant portion of the mass transit in the city off the roads.

Additionally, route taxis need to be phased out in the city. Mass transit using cars is the most inefficient way to undertake urban public transportation. It was a bad idea in the first place and it is time for it to go.

ALWYN K. GREGORY

Manchester, Mandeville