in the pass a person could easily take transport from Tragarete road into St. James to one of their favorite eating establishments, then easily take transport back to their work place, all within their designated lunch time, the new traffic plan this will no longer make this an option.
6. Has the new Traffic plan considered the elderly? Is it asking our senior citizens to walk more? If a pensioner has to leave St. James to go into Port of Spain, this new plan would make an already difficult task almost impossible.
7.The plan has not taken into consideration the weather conditions and its effects on commuters. It has already proven difficult for commuters leaving St. James but if you add bad weather conditions and the routes where they must walk to get to transport this commute becomes a highly inconvenient task.
8.Another problem also arises, that of commuter’s safety. The route to get to transport from The Western Main Road to Mucurapo Road is not the most savory, especially at night. The risk to persons travelling this way is high. There are many dark spots and lonely areas between these two points where predators can easily prey on innocent victims looking to make their way out of the area.
9.The culture of St. James and Ariapita Avenue would also be drastically affected. These two areas have become a mecca to the “after work lime”. With the new regulations this may drastically affect this adversely in that it will become uncomfortable or even dangerous to congregate at your favorite establishment.
10.Our festivals would also be affected. St. James celebrates Hosay, a religious parade that moves along the Western Main Road. What is to become of that? Is it going to be discontinued or relocated to a “new and improved” location? Decades of tradition removed. What of Carnival. Is this to me moved or discontinued also?
11.The new plan will also have an effect on economic development and property growth and investments. Businesses that have invested in high end property values and commercial entities will face decreased sales and possible financial collapse. Investments in our area will sustain losses and property value eventually will decline.
In all I believe the new traffic plan for the Port of Spain area will benefit the traffic flow but the cost to the burgesses is too high. Consideration towards the commuting class and the businesses should be looked into with greater concern. Also the proposed test run should not be held for the three month period but done over a shorter time. I suggest three days. The date scheduled for the test run should also be moved. As it is, the date is set during the august vacation where traffic flow is a lot less for both vehicles and commuters. School children account for a large percentage of traffic but with them on vacation a proper assessment of the new traffic plan would inaccurate.
I would like to thank you in advance for considering my points and would hope you take them into serious consideration for the benefit of all.

Sir, I know you and your esteemed staff have put a lot of effort, planning and energy into the development of the new traffic plan but after careful review of your proposed traffic plan for the Port of Spain area, I have discovered that the implementation of this would lead to some serious problems. I would like to bring these concerns to your immediate attention.
1.The new initiate ONLY serves vehicular traffic. No consideration was placed towards pedestrians and commuters. If there is only a one way flow of traffic, those seeking to travel by public transport would have a much greater distance to go to be able to attain any form of vehicle for hire.
2.The new distance for people who use public transport would create a major inconvenience to them. Burgesses who live in the St. James area and have to commute to work would have to restructure their schedule to compensate for the extra distance they would have to go. Not only does the extra fifteen minutes difference create havoc but the extra, approximately, one mile walk to attain transportation would have an adverse effect. One of the options that a commuter has is to take transport heading in the opposite direction and make a full circuit. This is a loss of time to the commuter as well as a full extra expense seeing that they would have to pay twice the amount to get to their destination. For example a person living on Bombay Street, St. James and working on Victoria Avenue, Tragarete Road would have to travel west before making their way to Port of Spain, then pay another fare to head west from Port of Spain to their work place. Other than that they would have to walk from Bombay Street to Mucurapo Road where they would get transportation going east, to then have to exit along Ariapita Avenue and then walk back to Tragarete Road.
3.Another effect that may have been overlooked is the impact of a heavier flow of traffic on the streets. The Western Main Road to Tragarete Road and Ariapita Road would now become like a highway with four lanes of free flowing traffic. Pedestrians would find great difficulty getting from one side to the other. Look at the traffic flow of the Queens Park Savanna and then place that same traffic in a heavy rural/commercial district. This is a recipe for disaster and may possibly result in the loss of property and life.
4.Businesses would also be affected by the new plan. Deliveries of goods would become increasingly difficult with the opening of the new one way, four lanes of traffic. For instance, along the Western Main Road in St James and along Ariapita Avenue there are a vast number of nightspots and bars that receive deliveries regularly from alcohol distributers. This is a labor intensive process from unloading to delivering into the bar; imagine this trying to be done on a “highway”. Also, what would be the situation if there is a delivery on the opposite side of the road, would the trucks have to make the circuit to go to the other customer? Would this affect the cost of goods and services?
5.Businesses would also be affected by the lack of parking along these roads. In areas heavily populated by commercial properties visitors to these establishments may decrease in volume with the difficulty to park and the much more difficult means to commute easily to them. Where

5.Businesses would also be affected by the lack of parking along these roads. In areas heavily populated by commercial properties visitors to these establishments may decrease in volume with the difficulty to park and the much more difficult means to commute easily to them. Where in the pass a person could easily take transport from Tragarete road into St. James to one of their favorite eating establishments, then easily take transport back to their work place, all within their designated lunch time, the new traffic plan this will no longer make this an option.
6. Has the new Traffic plan considered the elderly? Is it asking our senior citizens to walk more? If a pensioner has to leave St. James to go into Port of Spain, this new plan would make an already difficult task almost impossible.
7.The plan has not taken into consideration the weather conditions and its effects on commuters. It has already proven difficult for commuters leaving St. James but if you add bad weather conditions and the routes where they must walk to get to transport this commute becomes a highly inconvenient task.
8.Another problem also arises, that of commuter’s safety. The route to get to transport from The Western Main Road to Mucurapo Road is not the most savory, especially at night. The risk to persons travelling this way is high. There are many dark spots and lonely areas between these two points where predators can easily prey on innocent victims looking to make their way out of the area.
9.The culture of St. James and Ariapita Avenue would also be drastically affected. These two areas have become a mecca to the “after work lime”. With the new regulations this may drastically affect this adversely in that it will become uncomfortable or even dangerous to congregate at your favorite establishment.
10.Our festivals would also be affected. St. James celebrates Hosay, a religious parade that moves along the Western Main Road. What is to become of that? Is it going to be discontinued or relocated to a “new and improved” location? Decades of tradition removed. What of Carnival. Is this to me moved or discontinued also?
11.The new plan will also have an effect on economic development and property growth and investments. Businesses that have invested in high end property values and commercial entities will face decreased sales and possible financial collapse. Investments in our area will sustain losses and property value eventually will decline.
In all I believe the new traffic plan for the Port of Spain area will benefit the traffic flow but the cost to the burgesses is too high. Consideration towards the commuting class and the businesses should be looked into with greater concern. Also the proposed test run should not be held for the three month period but done over a shorter time. I suggest three days. The date scheduled for the test run should also be moved. As it is, the date is set during the august vacation where traffic flow is a lot less for both vehicles and commuters. School children account for a large percentage of traffic but with them on vacation a proper assessment of the new traffic plan would inaccurate.
I would like to thank you in advance for considering my points and would hope you take them into serious consideration for the benefit of all.

Sir, I know you and your esteemed staff have put a lot of effort, planning and energy into the development of the new traffic plan but after careful review of your proposed traffic plan for the Port of Spain area, I have discovered that the implementation of this would lead to some serious problems. I would like to bring these concerns to your immediate attention.
1.The new initiate ONLY serves vehicular traffic. No consideration was placed towards pedestrians and commuters. If there is only a one way flow of traffic, those seeking to travel by public transport would have a much greater distance to go to be able to attain any form of vehicle for hire.
2.The new distance for people who use public transport would create a major inconvenience to them. Burgesses who live in the St. James area and have to commute to work would have to restructure their schedule to compensate for the extra distance they would have to go. Not only does the extra fifteen minutes difference create havoc but the extra, approximately, one mile walk to attain transportation would have an adverse effect. One of the options that a commuter has is to take transport heading in the opposite direction and make a full circuit. This is a loss of time to the commuter as well as a full extra expense seeing that they would have to pay twice the amount to get to their destination. For example a person living on Bombay Street, St. James and working on Victoria Avenue, Tragarete Road would have to travel west before making their way to Port of Spain, then pay another fare to head west from Port of Spain to their work place. Other than that they would have to walk from Bombay Street to Mucurapo Road where they would get transportation going east, to then have to exit along Ariapita Avenue and then walk back to Tragarete Road.
3.Another effect that may have been overlooked is the impact of a heavier flow of traffic on the streets. The Western Main Road to Tragarete Road and Ariapita Road would now become like a highway with four lanes of free flowing traffic. Pedestrians would find great difficulty getting from one side to the other. Look at the traffic flow of the Queens Park Savanna and then place that same traffic in a heavy rural/commercial district. This is a recipe for disaster and may possibly result in the loss of property and life.
4.Businesses would also be affected by the new plan. Deliveries of goods would become increasingly difficult with the opening of the new one way, four lanes of traffic. For instance, along the Western Main Road in St James and along Ariapita Avenue there are a vast number of nightspots and bars that receive deliveries regularly from alcohol distributers. This is a labor intensive process from unloading to delivering into the bar; imagine this trying to be done on a “highway”. Also, what would be the situation if there is a delivery on the opposite side of the road, would the trucks have to make the circuit to go to the other customer? Would this affect the cost of goods and services?
to be continued