Moving Paradise

In November 2022, due to road closures due to Pirates Week, George Town experienced unprecedented traffic jams. Stories of vehicles stuck for more than an hour flooded local media and although former Premier Panton took responsibility and promised address the traffic issue, little has been achieved, and commute times into George Town can still take well over an hour.

Although this particular moment of heavy traffic was due in large part to extenuating circumstances preceding a much-loved public festival, it represents a wider issue concerning the contentious relationship between Cayman and the automobile. By investing in a multifaceted mass public transit system, a cornerstone of sustainable urban development, Cayman could reduce its reliance on cars and soften their grip on the island. 

Promoted as harbingers of personal freedom, cars have the island locked in a vice grip. With increasing traffic, we have been forced into a spiral of giving over more of our already scarce buildable land to cars. And yet, despite highways and bypasses that crisscross the island, it can take over an hour to get into Town from the outer districts.

Building more roads and limiting imports of cars will not fix Cayman’s traffic problem. Unlike other economic trends, traffic increases through induced demand, which implies that increased supply will result in increased demand; if we build more roads, more people are incentivised drive. Although in the short-term new roads may decrease traffic overall, the increasing number of drivers will ultimately lead to heavier congestion.

Cayman’s love affair with the car has dominated urban development in the last decades and surface parking lots cover large swaths of the island. In central George Town, nearly 30% of the land is dedicated to parking. Instead of a dense and vibrant urban core, our central district has become a glorified parking lot. Across the island, the lack of sidewalks can make walking a dangerous activity; and the bus network, our only true public transit, often requires that you to wait at stops without shade or shelter, or even a place to sit.

It is necessary that any proposals to reduce traffic consider solutions beyond simply building roads. Although more roads are sometimes necessary, traffic is a multifaceted problem that is often too complex to be solved by a single scheme. One person to realise this early on was the late Burns Conolly, who outline a detailed plan for the urban development of George Town in his 1986 master’s dissertation from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Conolly criticised the high levels of car ownership in Cayman and predicted that if nothing was done to stop it, the islands would be reduced to a car reliant society in which the needs of individuals are negated for the needs of the automobile. Unfortunately, his prediction has come true and Grand Cayman is now an island whose residents spend a large portion of their lives sitting in traffic, leading to environmental damage, economic stagnation, and adverse effects to mental and physical health.

Combatting traffic is about more than restricting imports or implementing congestion charging (although these are still effective and should be considered), it is about actively creating a system that makes convenient, cheap, and reliable alternatives to driving. Whether that be walking, cycling, or taking public transport, these alternatives are not inhibitors to personal freedoms, but enablers of collective good.

A reliable, safe, affordable, and comfortable public transport network is necessary for any sustainable urban space. Our current bus network is nothing to be sneered at, but there is room for improvement. The buses themselves are small and aging vans which lack capacity for a true mass transit and should be replaced with larger varieties that are seen in cities across the world. Larger vehicles have the benefit of incorporating space for those with reduced mobility or are unable/unwilling to drive. They also will provide alternatives for young people who do not have access to a car or do not have a licence yet. An improved bus network would also include shaded stops with seating and lighting across the entire island, not just in George Town.

In addition to public transport, cycle routes that cross the island, particularly within the dense urban centre, represent an alternative to driving that can be particularly valuable when travelling shorter distances. Currently, many Caymanians shy away from cycling due to the danger posed by drivers and from lack of protected routes. By providing a network of sheltered, and potentially shaded cycle lanes throughout the island, alternatives to driving and transit would be provided.

Public transport comes in many forms; walking, cycling, taking the bus, and even driving. What is necessary for an island such as Cayman, a place currently choking on cars, is an integrated and varied transport system that offers more than one option for those wishing to get around.