Traffic congestion and demand management measures in Port Harcourt metropolis

Traffic congestion has been a hard bone to chew in our major cities in Nigeria today. Port Harcourt metropolis has its own share of traffic congestion. This study investigated traffic congestion and demand management measures in Port Harcourt metropolis. Data were collected using both primary and secondary sources. 400 structured questionnaires were distributed among all road users comprising driver (private and commercial) passengers, pedestrians, traffic officers in the six traffic zones in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. A traffic count at peak periods of the day was employed to obtain estimated population figures for all road users in the selected route for the study. The sample size of 400 was distributed in four selected route traffic zone 1, 4. 5 and 6, while 66 were distributed among the remaining delineated route traffic 2 and 3. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the study. All statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 24.0. The result from the study showed that 36.8% of the respondents made very early trips between 6-7am. Also, 53.7% of the respondents usually engage in private trips, while the remaining 46.3% uses public vehicles. The major causes of traffic congestion were non-functional traffic light (35.5%), vehicle accidents – especially trailer accidents that impedes traffic flow (15%), overcrowding- use of too many cars on the road (14.7%), road capacity (11.3%), bad roads (1.3%), drivers’ attitude (3.2%) and lack of alternative route (18.9%). Major challenges of transport management in Port Harcourt were poor town planning (58.7%), inefficient enforcement of planning policies (70.8%), inefficient transport management system (62.9%), lack of maintenance of traffic light (69.5%), poor training of drivers (52.6%) and poorly built roads (46.6%). It is therefore recommended that measures to avert or ameliorate the constraints are provision of adequate feeder routes, improved traffic light system, training of prospective drivers, extension of roads and putting in place adequate transport management measures.