Traffic solutions: a collective effort

I usually stick to political or electoral topics, but there are issues we’re all experiencing due to the rapid development of Santo Domingo and the entire country. These aren’t limited to the current or previous administrations; they’ve been building up over time. Traffic, for instance, has consistently been a major headache for various governments, regardless of who’s in charge.

The current government is taking many steps to ease congestion and improve traffic flow. However, solving the traffic jam problem isn’t possible with a single measure. It demands a set of actions that need careful adjustment to tackle this issue truly.

Everyone recognizes that congestion forces drivers and the country to consume more than three times the fuel needed for normal daily activities. Let me explain: Someone traveling from home to work ends up spending triple what they would normally consume if there wasn’t congestion. This means the country—the government—has to buy more oil, more fuel, leading to higher expenditures and more dollars spent due to the high demand. This, combined with the growing number of vehicles, means a significant portion of the annual budget goes towards fuel.

Acknowledging this reality, several initiatives can be implemented to resolve the problem. For example, one sensible measure would be to regionalize work. Imagine people living in San Luis but working in the National District. What happens is that the very offices or departments where they work might have branches in their local area or closer to San Luis, eliminating the need for them to commute to the National District.

Therefore, we need to assign or relocate employees based on their geographic location. If someone lives in Los Alcarrizos, for instance, we should obviously find a way for them to work at an institutional branch near Los Alcarrizos, if one exists. This measure could apply to public institutions and private sector companies with branches across the country.

Another viable solution is the much-talked-about staggered working hours. This involves assigning different start times for the private and public sectors, perhaps with a one or two-hour difference. This way, public sector employees leave at a different time than those in private companies, reducing vehicle flow during notorious peak hours.

Furthermore, all private and public institutions could offer collective transport for their employees. This would guarantee safe, efficient transportation, making employees comfortable leaving their cars at home. It would save them money on fuel and ensure punctuality at work. In the United States, take any city, say New York for a popular example; you’ll see more vehicles than here, but fewer traffic jams. Why? Because parking spaces are limited, people prefer using collective transport, leading to less congestion.

Additionally, private educational centers could implement collective transportation for children. Currently, each parent individually drives their children to and from school, causing 100, 200, or even 300 vehicles to accumulate at both entry and exit times. This generates significant congestion and forces parents to consume more fuel. Collective transport, like the Ministry of Education’s Student Transport System currently provides, could prevent this by ensuring zone-based distribution of students.

These measures, combined with new train lines and the various road solutions being built across the country, could be the key to alleviating vehicle congestion, reducing fuel demand, and decreasing imports. It’s time we all accept that solving our traffic problem is a collective responsibility.

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By Odelis Matos
Lawyer and Electoral Specialist