Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
    • International News
  • Latest
  • Business
    • Business Bites
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • Videos
  • Career & Education
  • Classifieds
  • All Woman
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Elections
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Design Week
How to turn traffic lights into cash cows
A speed camera sign to alert motorists.
Business
BY ROBERT F EVANS  
February 1, 2016

How to turn traffic lights into cash cows

A colleague traffic engineer from the Transport and Road Research Laboratory of the UK spoke about showing a photograph of a roundabout in an African country and challenging anyone to deduce on which side of the road vehicles were supposed to drive.

He said that motorists entering the roundabout took the shortest distance to their exit. At each entrance, traffic turned both right and left! This experience led that engineer to develop the term “motorised pedestrianisation” to describe motorists behaving like pedestrians, bobbing and weaving through traffic, indiscriminately changing lanes, driving on any side of the road and ignoring traffic management appurtenances.

Jamaica has not yet descended to this level, but it is clear that the stellar efforts of the highly qualified and experienced National Works Agency and the Road Safety Council are undermined by the overwhelming number of contraventions that render enforcement efforts futile.

Typically, many Jamaican drivers exhibit the mental disorder of antisocial behaviour where one, without remorse and without consideration, acts to harm the well-being of others. Generally, our road users only obey road laws because of fear of prosecution and loss of licence and when the chance of being caught is negligible, disorder reigns. This results in congestion which wastes fuel. The best traffic management measures may be in place, but without sufficient enforcement they may be all but useless.

Accidents result in monetary consequences. In Jamaica the fatality rate is about 63.5 people per 100,000 motor vehicles. (There are about 600,000 motor vehicles in Jamaica.) Compare this with UK, 6.2; US, 13.6; Singapore 27.4; Guatemala, 45.2; and Trinidad & Tobago, 69.8. The world average is 93.3 fatalities for each 100,000 motor vehicles. There is obviously scope for a significant reduction in fatalities and this would reap considerable economic benefit.

The difficulty is that there are about 800 traffic red lights in Jamaica which means that during the peak hours daily, lights change to red some 250,000 times. Assuming an average of one breach at each change (and we know that there are many more) and assuming that all of the approximately 11,000 police personnel in Jamaica were stationed at the lights they could perhaps write 250,000 tickets per day. (This would bring traffic to a standstill.)

This is impractical and if one-tenth of the police force were on traffic duty the chance of getting caught would therefore be 10 per cent. While one ticket is being written at least nine offenders are getting away.

On the roadway between lights there are also violations (speeding, dangerous overtaking, illegal turns, improper lane usage, motorcyclists without helmets, etc.) Therefore, taking all the possible charges per day including those outside of the peak hours the chance of being caught is perhaps less than 1 in 50.

The problem is one of numbers and the only way to deal with large volumes of data is to use technology.

On the roads in England, approximately four per cent are uninsured and this costs every insured motorist there, on average, about $4,000 for crashes involving uninsured drivers who kill 60 and injure 23,000 annually. Their solution is to identify the uninsured vehicle and stipulate a date by which coverage must be in place failing which it will be seized and crushed. The percentage of uninsured motor vehicles in Jamaica is very much more than four per cent and this is a problem demanding an urgent solution. Again, the answer is technology-based.

Cameras at intersections and other strategic locations can be monitored live and hours later the tickets transmitted. There is software for a camera to read licence plates and, on a click when an errant road user is noted, could generate a ticket with all the information (owner’s name, etc.). An operator would then select the infringement from a menu and transmit the ticket (including the video clip) with another click to e-mail and/or phone — which would be more than 20 times faster than stopping a driver and writing a ticket and also without causing congestion.

The system could be so designed that licence plate identification could be linked to an insurance company database and the system would be so fast that a delinquent vehicle identified at Devon House intersection would get a ticket by text before reaching Half-Way-Tree less than a kilometre away — all automatic, that is, without operator intervention!

The appropriate legal framework must first be put in place. This is already well underway and the new laws will make the owner of a vehicle liable and also ensure that every motor vehicle owner gives, in addition to a valid address, cell phone number and/or e-mail address.

Too expensive for Government? Not at all! This is done all over the world by public-private partnerships whereby a private entity owns the system, generates the tickets and receives payment from the revenue generated.

This could be a big money-making private sector venture while concurrently generating huge economic benefits. These benefits include lower accident rates, reduced loss of life, decreased injury and vehicle damage, lower insurance costs, crime fighting information and increased tourism by attracting tourists to drive on our roads.

The transportation situation is far more complex. Congestion wastes fuel and demands costly improvements. Congestion can also be reduced by use of public transportation (large buses) instead of well over one hundred thousand taxis.

Pedestrianisation is an essential element of public transportation and so, as roads are widened and sidewalks made smaller and less friendly, the incentive for motor vehicle ownership increases. We have a long way to go to minimise fuel wastage in the transportation sector but cameras are a first and necessary step.

(Robert Evans, PE, is an engineer.)

 

 

 

Traffic lights can build government coffers
HERAT, Afghanistan — In this photograph taken on January 27, an Afghan man walks with his cow during sunset in Herat.
Robert Evans
HANOI, Vietnam — Motorbikes try to weave their way between the cars as they all fight for space on the road as heavy traffic clogs up a main street in downtown Hanoi last Friday. Vietnamese are preparing to celebrate next week the Lunar New Year, or “Tet” as it is known locally, and traffic gets much heavier than usual as people travel to visit relatives.

{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
img img
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

Bangladesh court upholds death sentences over teen burned alive
International News, Latest News
Bangladesh court upholds death sentences over teen burned alive
August 24, 2026
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — A Bangladesh appeals court upheld on Monday the death sentence for an ex-headteacher convicted of murdering a teenage studen...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
‘Gal Policy’ featured in 50 Cent’s ‘Fightland’
Entertainment, Latest News
‘Gal Policy’ featured in 50 Cent’s ‘Fightland’
August 23, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Popular dancehall producer Jahvy Ambassador is celebrating another international milestone after Gal Policy by Kranium, which he p...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Grange optimistic CPL return will strengthen local cricket and rekindle fan interest
Latest News, Sports
Grange optimistic CPL return will strengthen local cricket and rekindle fan interest
August 23, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, is optimistic that the return of Caribbean Premier League (CP...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Police probe suspected arson attacks in Rock River, seek person for questioning
Latest News, News
Police probe suspected arson attacks in Rock River, seek person for questioning
August 23, 2026
ST MARY, Jamaica — The St Mary police are seeking a man for questioning in connection with a series of suspected arson attacks in the Rock River commu...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
St Mary police seek common-law husband after alleged attack on partner
Latest News, News
St Mary police seek common-law husband after alleged attack on partner
August 23, 2026
ST MARY, Jamaica — The St Mary police are seeking the public’s assistance in locating a man wanted in connection with the attempted murder of his 51-y...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Turban X brings message of faith on Hill And Gully Riddim
Entertainment, Latest News
Turban X brings message of faith on Hill And Gully Riddim
August 23, 2026
Even before it was released in April, the Hill And Gully Riddim from producer Stephen McGregor was creating the proverbial buzz in dancehall circles. ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Latest ‘Spider-Man’ tops American box office for 4th weekend
Entertainment, Latest News
Latest ‘Spider-Man’ tops American box office for 4th weekend
August 23, 2026
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Spider-Man: Brand New Day is still riding high in the North American box office, topping ticket sales for the fourt...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Jamaica dethroned as Haiti claim CFU U-14 boys title
Latest News, Sports
Jamaica dethroned as Haiti claim CFU U-14 boys title
August 23, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica were dethroned as kings of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Boys Tier 1 Challenge Series on Sunday after they w...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct