effectiveness of traffic congestion solutions for enhancing economic growth in Tanzania.
Congestion can be defined as the situation when traffic is moving at speeds below the designed capacity of a roadway, it is the excess demand for road travel. (Downs, 2004).
Improving the social and economic wellbeing of the citizenry is the aim of every nation. One basic economic and social necessity that comes into focus when discussing economic and social development is transportation. Transportation is an activity of life processes and seeks to provide access to various activities that satisfy mobility needs of humankind (Kavalec 2003).
According to Weisbrod (2001), an effective transportation system is significantly important in sustaining economic growth in contemporary economies since it provides linkages between different parts of the country and the global world.
It links to work, deliver products to market, underpins logistics and supply chain, and support local and international trade. A good-established transportation system is not only key to national growth but also serves as catalyst for economic development of a country. Thus, there is a relationship between transportation and productivity (Mondschein et al. 2009).
Arasan (2012) elements of urban transportation include public transit (collective transport); non-motorized transport (pedestrians, cyclists) and freight.
Effective urban transport systems are essential to economic activity and quality of life. Urban transportation opens up opportunities to access essential services as well as social activities. Business activities depend on urban transportation systems to ensure the mobility of its customers, employees and suppliers.
The urban transport services cover a range of important social and economic services such as leisure trips business journeys; commuting; shopping; trips to places of education and freight distribution. Boarnet (1997) effective urban transport fulfills the demand for accessibility within cities, further report that transportation infrastructure is one of the key factors that directly affect urban transportation effectiveness and capacity within the metropolis.
Transportation infrastructure mainly includes roads, parking lots, vehicles and transportation terminals. Urban traffic management system is also an important component which can properly control and guide the distribution of traffic flows on roads ( Haldenbilen 2006).
Nadiri (1998) postulates that investment in adequate transport infrastructure improves transport efficiency in terms of increased productivity and continue that transportation infrastructure involves good road network, adequate bus stops, parking areas with traffic signals. Nadiri (2001) assert that mass transit is prerequisite for ensuring efficient and effective transportation system in urban areas in terms of energy conservation reduced traffic congestion and environmental preservation.
They argue that effective mass transit system is underpinned by availability, accessibility, and reliability of buses. Effective traffic management and control system is key to ensuring effective transportation system in the urban areas. This involves management and control of road signals, road space, parking space and road users (Weisbrod 2001).
Boarnet (1997) on effectiveness of traffic congestion solutions for enhancing economic growth in Tanzania argues that the input of productivity is a state or national investment in transportation whilst the output is gross domestic product (GDP) growth. An effective transportation system is therefore key in sustaining economic growth in the contemporary economies by its capacity to link people to job, deliver products to markets where there is demand, drives supply chain and logistics and enabling domestic and international trade.
Any city that is economically dynamic and vibrant will rarely be free from traffic congestion. Congestion has become an inevitable part of everyday life and that it is the city authorities that have to devise policies to help manage congestion on affordable basis to relief commuters of the difficulties imposed upon them by traffic congestion (Mondschein et al. 2009).
Arasan (2012) in effectiveness of traffic congestion solutions for enhancing economic growth in Tanzania congestion is a function of a reduction in speeds, which is the direct cause loss of time and leads to increased vehicle operating costs, fuel consumption, and emissions of air pollutants and Green House Gases (GHGs).
In fact, people living in cities have come to accept traffic congestion as part of city dynamics and therefore have become used to getting along with it. They continue to argue that traffic congestion in cities is a symbol of a successful socio economic development – improved business activities, increase in employment and improved culture. These are factors that motivate firms to operate in cities to benefit from economic gains.
However, adequate infrastructure, effective traffic management and effective public transportation as key factors in place, will lead to effective transportation system. This will improve energy efficiency, effective logistics system and increase productivity at both individual and national level (Lewis 2012).
effectiveness of traffic congestion solutions for enhancing economic growth in Tanzania
In Tanzania like other countries, economic growth depends on transport sector it facilitates domestic and international trade, contributes to national integration, provides access to jobs, health, education and other essential facilities. and storage activities. Road transport is playing a bit role in development of any country’s economy (World Bank 2010).
Roads have only gained importance in the past 50 years as road transport became more affordable and became an important feature of a market economy. A high proportion of the infrastructure was not modernized over time due to limited resources to invest and a large amount of infrastructure and equipment is now beyond its economic life. The lack of attention to maintenance resulted in rapid deterioration in the infrastructure and this imposed high costs on the economy, a trend that continues to the present day (Lewis 2012).
