The domino effect of natural disasters, infrastructural damage, ballooning prices, the runaway dollar and rising crime is mounting a serious challenge to the Golding administration. And though the Government faces a lengthy to-do list, one of the more pressing concerns is the growing transportation crunch in the country's capital.

In recent times, the metropolis, including the wider Corporate Area, has experienced a maze of traffic gridlock in a foretaste of what the Christmas season will bring. A typical sample happened last week Thursday evening when hundreds of commuters were stalled in a minimum three-hour crawl through the Old Hope Road-Trafalgar Road corridor in New Kingston, evoking a mini-outburst from Mayor Desmond McKenzie.

A major factor, of course, is the increasing number of cars on a road network that has little room for expansion. Many persons have opted for private motor cars because of the notorious unreliability of state-sponsored public transportation. Commuters have become fed up waiting for 30-60 minutes for a Jamaica Urban Transit Company bus, only to spend another hour, or two, or three, as it snakes its way through the clutter of Kingston's streets. And th of other private minibus operators offers less comfort or efficiency.

The traffic gridlocks have been exacerbated in recent weeks by a prolonged rainy season which has damaged road surfaces with potholes, many of which become unavoidable craters..

The chaos into which the transportation sector has been flung has larger implications for productivity in the capital, in the timely movement of both human resources and goods. The ambitious projects to build superhighways and overpasses have facilitated quicker transfers from the main city to the north and south coasts, but the new administration must, over time, address the roadblocks which inevitably greet motorists, particularly those involved primarily in commercial enterprise.

Though talk on the environment is hardly a head-turner in Jamaica, the spike in vehicle acquisitions will undoubtedly have negative consequences. Apart from the noise pollution of expletive-spewing, horn-honking motorists, emissions will contribute to the blackening of Kingston's air and may result in a greater incidence of respiratory illnesses.

Truth be told, thousands of motorists only travel relatively short distances from home to work and back. Well-thought-out, cost-effective strategies must be developed to improve the hobbling public transport system, in terms of its efficiency and infrastructure. Greater impetus must propel time-saving initiatives such as carpooling, and 'greener' methods of transportation, such as cycling, should be championed as viable options. Donning a bike helmet and pumping pedal may not fit in with our bling-bling subculture, but is an efficient mode of transportation for millions of commuters, including white-collar workers, in big Asian cities.

Persuading motorists to return to the buses might be in vain after the 'luxury' of used-car ownership; but the spiralling oil crisis driving up petrol prices may be decisive. Being stalled in traffic gridlocks will leave a lot of motorists plenty of time to think. And woe unto those who have no air conditioning. Transport Minister Mike Henry may find the commuting public less inclined than Sir Richard Branson to kiss and make up.

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