The Evolution of Transportation

Photo Courtesy: Glen Beadon

“The auto industry must acknowledge that a rational transportation policy should seek a balance between individual convenience, the efficient use of limited resources, and urban-living values that protect spaciousness, natural beauty, and human-scale mobility.” Stewart Udall

According to Allen Morrison in “The Trams and Trolleybuses of Trinidad and Tobago” the first railway on Trinidad island was a horse-drawn line called the Cipero Tramway, which was constructed in the 1840's by a Scottish planter named William Eccles to transport produce from his sugar plantation to the wharf at San Fernando, 30 miles south of Port of Spain. On March 5^th, 1859, Tramcars had begun transporting commuters along the first four miles of the line, from San Fernando to Sainte Madeleine. By 1864, Steam locomotives replaced the animals and towed the cars to Princes Town. San Fernando and Port of Spain were not linked by railroad up until 1882. The Cipero Tramway was eventually engrossed by the Trinidad Government Railways system, which operated until 1968. Exhibited today on Harris Promenade in San Fernando is TGR’s last steam engine.

Transportation is a fundamental part of urban morphology. In the urban circuit of Port of Spain, we can see how these roadways are used like wires to connect every aspect of the city. Looking at the city in the present day, we can see how the transport networks have evolved. The same way animals had been replaced by steam locomotives, they too had been replaced by open electric cars in 1883. The electric cars were eventually replaced by trolleybuses in 1939 which were then replaced by what we know today as the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) in 1965. This can be seen in the photos above as an Electric Trolleybus once made headlines as a form of transportation prowess in the 1930's but is no longer existent as the new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses and maxi taxis are presently the main public transport mediums on the island.

Accessibility is the foundation of economic expansion in cities. Although urban form and transportation may seem to be detached, they are in fact, in each other's pocket.  In order to access good and services transport is greatly needed, the more efficient, the greater the economic profits. Let’s have a look at the cities of Trinidad; according to buzz.tt, the city of San Fernando is the larger of the two cities in Trinidad and Tobago covering 18.64 km²  whilst the nation’s capital Port of Spain, covers 13.45 km². Over the years, the transportation routes and mediums had to evolve to facilitate the increasing populace as urban form, the arrangement and concentration of land uses, and transportation schemes are the features of cities that govern the ways in which individuals interact with each other.

References·         

City Hall of San Fernando in San Fernando - ID 652." City Hall of San Fernando in San Fernando. 2016 Buzz Media Ltd., “Date Retrieved” 26 Mar. 2016.

 "City Observatory." City Observatory. N.p., 14 Oct. 2014. “Date Retrieved” 26 Mar. 2016.

Morrison, Allen. "THE TRAMWAYS OF TRINIDAD & TOBAGO." THE TRAMWAYS OF TRINIDAD & TOBAGO. Copyright 2008-2108 Allen Morrison TODOS LOS DERECHOS RESERVADOS, 1 Sept. 2008. “Date Retrieved” 26 Mar. 2016.

 Rode, Philipp, and Graham Floater. "ACCESSIBILITY IN CITIES: TRANSPORT AND URBAN FORM."

 www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/transportation. “Date Retrieved” 26 Mar. 2016.