Consultations underway to improve city transportation challenges

A Sustainable Urban Transport (SUT) study, facilitated by the Public Infrastructure Ministry and Brazilian company LOGIT, has shown that the city of Georgetown needs new mechanisms for improved transportation.
Carried out between October 2016 and November this year, the study was aimed at providing specific project recommendations and policy options to allocate road space more efficiently among users, and increase the use of cleaner and more sustainable transportation modes.
It included the Urban Public Transportation Improvement Sector, the Traffic Improvement Programme, Gender Study, and the Institutional Strengthening and Parking Management Plan.

Addressing the consultation on Friday at the Cara Lodge in Quamina Street, Georgetown, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson said that according to data, some nine thousand new vehicles find their way on the road each year. And while the city of Georgetown has served Guyanese well, the road network system has not improved significantly.
“Another study, coupled with this report, shows that 65 to 70 per cent of all traffic heads to the city of Georgetown, coming from the East Bank as well as from the East Coast. So you can imagine the strain we add annually to Georgetown,” Patterson is quoted by the Department of Public Information as saying.
The recommendations coming out of the study fall under the ambit of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC). Taking this into account, Minister Patterson said, the proposals set forward are simply for discussion.
“At the end of this stakeholder meeting, a final report will incorporate your comments, and the final report will be presented to the Ministry, the municipality, and the public as a whole,” Minister Patterson said.