Christopher Burgess | Jamaica’s J$35-billion congestion problem

For motorists across Jamaica, the last few weeks have been horrendous. Gridlock and rising fuel prices from tensions in the Middle East have made commuting both time-consuming and expensive. From Half-Way Tree to Alice Eldemire Drive in Montego Bay, the main transport arteries are clogged.

Two Friday afternoons ago, with light rain, most of the Corporate Area was in gridlock. Twenty-minute routes from Cross Roads to Papine and New Kingston to Dunrobin took three hours, prompting calls for flexible work hours, monorails, and better coordination of roadworks. Congestion, driven by sheer traffic volume superimposed on inadequate lanes and a weak public transport system, exerts an economic burden of over J$35 billion annually.

Against this background, the recent appeal by the Minister of Transport Daryl Vaz, for motorists to take personal responsibility for fuel conservation is both timely and misplaced. People are already stuck in gridlock. In 2008, the Minister of Transport and Works Mike Henry said motorists were taking eight times longer on typical journeys. The economic cost of congestion dwarfs the government’s spending of J$1.4 billion in the last four weeks in fuel cap adjustment. The issue is structural and decades in the making -insufficient lane capacity and a lack of trust in the inadequate public transport system.

Congestion is at least six decades old. A World Bank appraisal in 1965 described the Kingston–Spanish Town corridor as “the most heavily travelled highway in Jamaica,” and recommended lane expansion when the island had just 72,000 vehicles. Today, with over 570,000 registered vehicles, the same corridors – Spanish Town Road, Marcus Garvey Drive, Mandela Highway, and Constant Spring Road – remain congested despite upgrades. What has changed is the volume of traffic using them.

Congestion is worsened by everyday realities such as numerous private cars and route taxis stopping unpredictably, motorists manoeuvring around potholes, and weak lane discipline. These factors increase lane friction, reducing the effective capacity of already strained roadways. At the centre of this problem is the collapse of public transport.

REBUILDING PUBLIC TRANSPORT

A growing lack of trust in public transport is a major driver of congestion.

In 1958, Jamaica operated a fleet of over 300 buses, under the Jamaica Omnibus Service (JOS). This is roughly the same number of buses we have today for a population three times bigger. In 1975, Prime Minister Michael Manley took over JOS that was eventually wound up in 1983 by Prime Minister Edward Seaga. Route taxis then emerged as a “temporary” fix but soon became a permanent feature of the transport system. By 1998, the JUTC was created with a 600-bus fleet to restore order.

Today, fewer than 230 buses operate regularly, while over 25,500 route and hackney taxis dominate urban transport, according to OUR and PIOJ. These taxis now compete on the same roads, making frequent stops and creating erratic traffic patterns. Meanwhile, the Transport Authority collects less than J$1.7 billion annually in license fees, while the economy loses J$35 billion in productivity and fuel. This is a classic case of being penny wise and pound foolish.

Rebuilding public transport is essential. A modern fleet of 1,600 buses, across Kingston, Montego Bay, Spanish Town, and Portmore, is needed to reduce lane friction. But beyond public transport, the problem also lies in the capacity of existing road infrastructure.

MORE LANES NEEDED

Recent improvements in the Kingston Metropolitan Area appear to have been largely offset by induced traffic, with Marcus Garvey Drive, Hagley Park Road and Constant Spring Road are once again heavily congested. The Mandela Highway, Hagley Park Road, Red Hills Road, Constant Spring, Trafalgar Road corridors into Half-Way Tree, downtown and New Kingston experience severe bottlenecks. To the east, the Old Hope Road and Hope Road corridors carry heavy volumes to Papine, Liguanea, and into New Kingston. Similarly, the Barbican Road and East Kings House Road to Liguanea corridor are heavily congested in the morning and evening peaks. All these major corridors need to be widened by at least two additional lanes, with more efficient intersections.

The north-coast corridor that was transformed between 1999 and 2007 is now heavily congested. What used to be a 20-minute drive from Drax Hall to Runaway Bay can take an hour choked with traffic from new housing and commercial developments. At the same time, enforcement remains inconsistent, as police escort tourist coaches and route taxis using soft shoulders, with little consequence. A similar congestion situation occurs in Montego Bay, May Pen, Mandeville and Ocho Rios.

Congestion is also driven by poor utilization and weak enforcement. Spanish Town bypass is heavily congested, yet the nearby East-West toll road remains underutilized. Adjusting toll pricing could shift traffic and provide relief.

More lanes, improved intersections, more bypasses and better use of toll roads are needed to cope with the increased traffic volumes. The Montego Bay bypass will certainly ease congestion in Montego Bay, to create an investment friendly environment. Similarly, the proposed extensions to the North-South highway to bypass Drax Hall to Runaway Bay will provide great relief.

Billions have been poured into fixing potholes under JDIP and now SPARK. But resurfacing is not expansion.

ECONOMIC COST

A worker who spends two hours getting to work arrives fatigued and less productive. According to the Jamaican Economy Panel (2023), up to 40 per cent of work hours are lost to traffic delays. This is not just lost time; it is lost economic output. When combined with fuel costs, the annual cost of congestion is approximately one percent of Jamaica’s GDP, and aligns with experiences in São Paulo and Mexico City, and in Trinidad, according to the IADB. This is a national productivity crisis and may help explain why labour productivity declined by at least 20 per cent from the 2000 level. At its core, this is the result of a failed public transport system and decades of underinvestment in lane capacity.

Jamaica must widen major corridors, construct bypasses, and make better use of existing toll roads. The government must acquire additional buses and rebuild trust in the public transport system to reduce reliance on private vehicles and route taxis. Without these changes, the country will continue to use more imported fuel and lose productive time.

Dr. Christopher Burgess is registered civil engineer, climate scientist, land developer and the Managing Director of CEAC Solutions. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com