IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bcp/journl/v6y2022i7p142-151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Traffic congestion and demand management measures in Port Harcourt metropolis

Author

Listed:
  • Agaviezor, D.T.

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria)

  • Emenike, G.C.

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria)

  • Eludoyin O.S.

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Agaviezor, D.T. & Emenike, G.C. & Eludoyin O.S., 2022. "Traffic congestion and demand management measures in Port Harcourt metropolis," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(7), pages 142-151, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:6:y:2022:i:7:p:142-151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-6-issue-7/142-151.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/virtual-library/papers/traffic-congestion-and-demand-management-measures-in-port-harcourt-metropolis/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gilles Duranton & Matthew A. Turner, 2011. "The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion: Evidence from US Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(6), pages 2616-2652, October.
    2. Carsten Schmidt & Thomas Kohlmann, 2008. "When to use the odds ratio or the relative risk?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 53(3), pages 165-167, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jinwon Kim & Jucheol Moon & Dongyun Yang, 2024. "Pigouvian Congestion Tolls and the Welfare Gain: Estimates for California Freeways," Working Papers 2402, Nam Duck-Woo Economic Research Institute, Sogang University (Former Research Institute for Market Economy).
    2. Bono, Pierre-Henri & David, Quentin & Desbordes, Rodolphe & Py, Loriane, 2022. "Metro infrastructure and metropolitan attractiveness," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Proost, Stef & Van Dender, Kurt, 2012. "Energy and environment challenges in the transport sector," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 77-87.
    4. Geddes, R. Richard & Wagner, Benjamin L., 2013. "Why do U.S. states adopt public–private partnership enabling legislation?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 30-41.
    5. Gilles Duranton & Geetika Nagpal & Matthew A. Turner, 2020. "Transportation Infrastructure in the US," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Analysis and Infrastructure Investment, pages 165-210, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López & Ilias Pasidis & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2022. "Congestion in highways when tolls and railroads matter: evidence from European cities [The congestion relief benefit of public transit: evidence from Rome]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(5), pages 931-960.
    7. Ioulia V Ossokina & Jos van Ommeren & Henk van Mourik, 2023. "Do highway widenings reduce congestion?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(4), pages 871-900.
    8. Stephan Heblich & Stephen J Redding & Daniel M Sturm, 2020. "The Making of the Modern Metropolis: Evidence from London," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(4), pages 2059-2133.
    9. Ferdinando Monte & Stephen J. Redding & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2018. "Commuting, Migration, and Local Employment Elasticities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3855-3890, December.
    10. Russo, Antonio & Adler, Martin W. & Liberini, Federica & van Ommeren, Jos N., 2021. "Welfare losses of road congestion: Evidence from Rome," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    11. Pablo D. Fajgelbaum & Edouard Schaal, 2020. "Optimal Transport Networks in Spatial Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1411-1452, July.
    12. Sylvain Leduc & Daniel Wilson, 2013. "Roads to Prosperity or Bridges to Nowhere? Theory and Evidence on the Impact of Public Infrastructure Investment," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 89-142.
    13. Lalive, Rafael & Schmutzler, Armin & Luechinger, Simon, 2013. "Does Supporting Passenger Railways Reduce Road Traffic Externalities?," CEPR Discussion Papers 9335, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Stephen J. Redding & Daniel M. Sturm & Nikolaus Wolf, 2015. "The Economics of Density: Evidence From the Berlin Wall," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2127-2189, November.
    15. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent & Zylberberg, Yanos, 2022. "Urban economics in a historical perspective: Recovering data with machine learning," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    16. World Bank Group, 2018. "Sierra Leone Economic Update, June 2018," World Bank Publications - Reports 30032, The World Bank Group.
    17. Stephen J. Redding & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2017. "Quantitative Spatial Economics," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 21-58, September.
    18. Urszula Myga-Piątek & Anna Żemła-Siesicka & Katarzyna Pukowiec-Kurda & Michał Sobala & Jerzy Nita, 2021. "Is There Urban Landscape in Metropolitan Areas? An Unobvious Answer Based on Corine Land Cover Analyses," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, January.
    19. Hamilton, Timothy L. & Wichman, Casey J., 2018. "Bicycle infrastructure and traffic congestion: Evidence from DC's Capital Bikeshare," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 72-93.
    20. Das, Abhiman & Ghani, Ejaz & Grover, Arti & Kerr, William & Nanda, Ramana, 2024. "JUE insight: Infrastructure and Finance: Evidence from India’s GQ highway network," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:6:y:2022:i:7:p:142-151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.