Parking Meter project led to significant decrease of traffic across Harbour Bridge

After eight years, vehicular traffic across the Demerara Harbour Bridge saw a 6.7% decrease in February 2017.

According to General Manager at the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC), Rawlston Adams the major drop in vehicular traffic is as a result of the City’s Parking Meter Project which came into effect in the last week of January 2017.

Adams during a Stakeholder Consultation on the Feasibility and design of the new Demerara River Crossing disclosed that “in January when the Parking Meter came into effect…our increase was 1.8% increase (comparing year to year, is about 5%). In February for the very first time in eight years, outside of last May Elections, we saw traffic drop 6.7%.”

However, Traffic Expert, Jacqueline Mouws who is in Guyana with a team from LievenseCSO, the Dutch consultant company looking at the new River crossing, assured that this would not have lasted for long.

Mouws noted that from her experience, “there will be a drop and after that, it slowly will grow again. Normally, most of the experience I’ve got, it takes you about half a year to a year, and then you’re at the same level again, and it continues to keeps on growing.” She pointed out that growth in traffic flow is “linked to the growth of your economy” and not the implementation of any one initiative.

In December 2016, it was also noted that over the years, the traffic on the Demerara Harbour Bridge has significantly increased, particularly among certain types of vehicles such as private cars, minibuses, and motor lorries. In January 2009, for example, there were approximately 74,000 trips made by private cars. In January 2010, this number rose to 86,338 and, by August 2016, there were approximately 163,000 trips made by private cars for that month.

For minibuses, the figure stood at 39,000 in January 2010. In July 2016, the figure was 44,000 for minibuses.

Meanwhile, motor lorries with two axles moved from 10,000 trips in January 2010 to 12,000 trips in August 2016.

From 2008 through 2016, the corporation made an average income of $489M each year but expended an average of $910M each year across both its current and capital expenditures.