Transportation economists concur that traffic jam in cities during peak hours is inevitable since a large number of people are competing for road space at the same time. Majority advise against expansion of roads as a measure to address this challenge. Of course cities cannot go on expanding road lanes coz, in the long run, the space for expansion will run out. But this should not discount the fact that some roads, for instance in Uganda are too narrow to help decrease congestion. Some cities such as Beijing in China have up to sixteen lanes roads and these too are congested. Such cities may thus not need any further expansion. However cities like Kampala where most roads are single carriage, we may have no option but to think about expanding some of the critical roads to increase their capacity.
Many researchers argue that when roads are expanded, these attract more traffic which further exacerbates traffic jam. This is only true up to a certain level. There should be a minimum threshold beyond which there is no need to expand. However where you still have roads in the city that are as tiny as foot paths, then it’s just imperative that their capacity is enhanced in order to ameliorate the plight of people that spend hours waiting in traffic. Having said this however, it’s important to note that the best way to address the challenge of traffic jam is to encourage mass transit, and secondly to create a metropolitan transport master plan which ensures that the road network is well interlinked and better connected.
Traffic in the city can be equated to the human body with blood that moves and keeps rotating without stopping. Likewise, a better design traffic system in any city must ensure that vehicles keep moving while avoiding any hold-ups. A better transport network keeps traffic circling around the city and discourages vehicles from getting into and keeping within the inner city. For that reason therefore, all major traffic attractors within the CBD should be moved out into the periphery. Critical installations and offices which naturally attract a lot of people should as much as possible be pushed out of the city and leave the city to function as a business hub where shoppers do not necessarily have to use their personal cars to access the inner city. It’s true that every vibrant city in the world experiences traffic jam. The difference is that policy makers and city authorities react to it differently. Some are too passive while others try their level best to find workable solutions. Kampala needs the latter managers