Many of us may have heard the saying that Barbados “punches well above its weight”…This boxing metaphor reflects how, even with Barbados’ small size, we have made astounding progress domestically and internationally – socially, economically and technologically since our independence 53 years ago.
Barbados 2020: We Gatherin’… Data to Improve our Urban Infrastructure
During the month of February 2019, our Prime Minister, The Hon. Mia Amor Mottley issued the call, “We Gatherin’ Barbados….to celebrate who we are!”. (Click here for more details on this year long campaign). This initiative is positioned to be a catalyst for national transformation as we celebrate the past and Barbadian ways of life, while we focus on the progress that we’ve made and continue to make in our communities.
This led us to think about the various ways that our team at Caribbean Transit Solutions (CTS) can play our part as Barbadian youths to “ensure our digital competence will serve us well beyond today and into many tomorrows”. Our company is the first to provide real time information on buses in Barbados with our BeepBus app, but there are so many more things that we can do!
Over the past two years, our company has collected and collated well over 8 million kilometers of driving data throughout Barbados. We can use this data in many ways, including to identify:
- Areas of Vehicles Idling
- Hazardous Driving Areas
- Intersection Metrics
- Road Impediments
The ability to generate insights from large amounts of data (Big Data) allows organisations to learn from past performance, identify and/or predict trends and is a key area of focus for CTS. One of our colleagues recently visited Shenzhen in China and wrote an article about Smart Cities and how using our roads better can give you more time with your family and save you money. This article builds on the trend of using data to improve lives and specifically how using data with our Fleet Management Solutions can assist in developing and improving Barbados’ Road Infrastructure.
Sustaining and Improving Barbados’ Urban Infrastructure
Generally speaking, when we think about urban infrastructure we think about buildings, our roads or highways, including any and all public services such as airports/ seaports and our access to telecommunications systems. The question is, how do we compare to other countries globally?
Barbados currently ranks 23rd out of 144 other countries worldwide for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Adoption which suggests that our governments and telecommunication providers have invested heavily in the technologies and infrastructure to support business activities and also improve the quality of life for Barbadian citizens. However, one of the things that caught our attention is that in the Quality of the Road Infrastructure we fall behind – ranking 111th out of the other 144 countries worldwide. For clarity, in quality of road infrastructure, Barbados scored a below average 3.2 on a 7 point scale. With this in mind, how do we go about improving the quality of our roads and what benefits for citizens can we expect to see if we do improve our roads and infrastructure? The 2019 Caribbean Region Quarterly Bulletin suggests Public-Private Partnerships, due to our fiscal consolidation and lack of capital funding. Additionally, if we improve the quality of our roads how do we efficiently keep track of their quality and maintain them?
Analysing Road Impediments
At CTS, we analysed some of the data that we have accumulated from our years of operation (2015 – 2019) to map the Road Impediments (potholes and rough roads) across Barbados.
Severe Road Impediments
On the flip side, let us now take a look at the moderate and severe road impediments. These are the ones which score between 3 and 5 and are highlighted on the map as yellow, orange and red. These are the rough or bumpy roads that you will most definitely feel while driving along in your vehicle. It will resonate better with you if we take a look at a familiar location. With this in mind, we’ve chosen to look at Lears Road in Barbados. Highlighted in the image on the left, this road has a series of yellow, orange and red dots indicating moderate to severe road conditions or a rough road with unavoidable impediments that you would most definitely feel while travelling in your vehicle.
Exploring Severe Road Impediments in Salters, St. George and Highway 4
We wanted to take a closer look at another familiar area, but actually explore the area and go into a bit more detail. We decided that it would be a great idea to visit the Salters area in St. George, as this is a frequently traversed area that usually has a high volume of traffic. We got out of our vehicles and took some pictures of the area highlighted in the image below.
The road in the image below, which is highlighted by arrow number (1) on the adjoined map, is a side road off of highway 4 between the Salters Road junction and the Drax Hall Roundabout which leads to a business area (Mark’s Auto Spares, The Telephone Repair Company and Roett’s Garage). The yellow, orange and red dots in area (1) were likely caused by some of those potholes located in the image and pointed out by the red arrows. Some of which were at least 3-4 inches deep.
Similarly, when we looked at the Highway 4 junction that leads to Salters road (area number 2 on the adjoined map), in the image below, there were a few road impediments indicated by the red number 2 arrows, which weren’t severe by any means, but noticeable enough for you to feel a thump while driving your vehicle.
Bumpy roads affect our pockets in more ways than one
Damaged shocks, blown tires, broken rims – these are just some of the ways that road impediments can negatively impact vehicle owners, but did you also know that the quality of the road also impacts the amount of fuel used as well? This is based on a concept called ‘Pavement Vehicle Interaction’ (PVI) which looks at the interaction between a vehicle’s tires and the roadway surface to determine how certain factors influence fuel consumption.
In this vein, we are keen to work with any organisation (Private, Public or NGO) to provide solutions that can help solve these problems. A few things come to mind, which include being able to:
Optimize Your Daily Travel Routes
Consider that you were a Fleet Manager, Government Agency or a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) Owner – having access to the data to analyze the routes that your vehicles are driving allows you to make informed decisions to reduce costs associated with:
- Fuel Consumption
- Repair and Maintenance
- Tire Wear
Use This Data to improve Citizens’ lives
Barbados is currently undergoing fiscal consolidation. This limits the financial resources but also makes it so much more difficult for Barbados to maintain its infrastructure. We’d love to play our part, and the whole idea is to use our data to help improve and maintain not only the infrastructure in Barbados, but to also improve the lives of all Barbadian citizens by leveraging our solutions. Imagine if we could use this data to make your daily commute easier, or rather, much more pleasant? At times, when we look at the logistics of travel it can prove to be challenging. There are so many vehicles on our roads that the potential for accidents have increased. Not to mention the amount of time spent in traffic could be a nightmare – especially during peak hours of the day. Choosing the best road to travel to escape traffic and congestion at times comes down to making a compromise and driving your vehicle on a less than favourable road or route which over time might not bode well with your pockets. Leveraging the data and valuable information that we can provide will give valuable insight that can help improve Barbados’ preventative road maintenance programs. Being able to look at this type of data in real time will allow us to quickly identify any areas of concern and can help with any development planning. Using big data to make informed decisions is a step in the right direction to ensure that we become the best that we can be.
If you’re intrigued by this article and would like to find out more, or interested in working with us, you can email us at: info@transportsi.com or you can leave a comment below!
Resources:
Encyclopedia – The Urban Infrastructure
We Gatherin’ Barbados Information
Pavement Vehicle Interaction Information
Community Resilience Approach for Prioritizing Infrastructure Development in Urban Areas
The World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2019
Caribbean Region Quarterly Bulletin – 201
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