Infrastructure and Public Utilities Secretary, Gary Melville, said today that the Division has launched the Scarborough Traffic Study 2015. According to the Secretary, close to 30 electronic counters are being installed today along the Claude Noel Highway and at 20 major intersections throughout Scarborough.

The Traffic Study, which runs for approximately ninety (90) days, falls within a new approach for traffic management, wherein the Division is focused on utilizing empirical data for policy development and planning. The Secretary stressed that, “the findings of this study would prove a valuable resource in traffic planning in Tobago and therefore more responsive technologies and solutions to traffic related issues are expected to come from the process”.

The study, which comes at a cost of TTD $299K is in two parts; the first being a Traffic Volume Study and the second, an Operational Analysis Study. These are both geared at generating data to guide the optimization of road use in Scarborough; understand the impact of the operation of the seaport on traffic flow in lower Scarborough; and forecast future traffic volumes. Furthermore, the process would see automatic traffic counts being recorded by three types of electronic counters over a twoweek period. It would primarily capture the state of traffic in Scarborough, as well as gauge vehicle classification during peak time hours.

Secretary Melville further stated that following data collection, the contractors, Caribbean Transportation Consultancy Services Co. Ltd (CARITRANS), would analyze the data collected from the counts in collaboration with the findings of the Journey to Work Survey of March 2015. At the completion of the study, CARITRANS is to present a report and action plan, which would include, among other elements, traffic simulations specific to the nuanced issues in and around Scarborough.

The Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities remains committed to ‘Building a Better Tobago’ and doing so expeditiously.