So we meet again for the final time. I hope you have
enjoyed my entire blog and also hope you use the different forms of mobility available
in our city. I must say that I have learnt so much about mobility while doing
this blog from the different literature I have researched. Now that this blog
is completed I can reflect on the trials and tribulations I faced in acquiring
these pictures. There were numerous times where I had to hide and take pictures
as commuters didn’t like the idea of being photographed. When I started this
blog some months ago I thought to myself “where am I going to get 10 different
topics to put in my blog?” However as time progressed I realized how simple it
was as I myself use different forms of mobility to get around the city, whether
it be walking, maxi taxi, using my bicycle and driving. Also, while doing my
entry on “Buses” I took the bus for the first time. It was a great experience
for me. This last post I will discuss the relationship of my core theme “Mobility
in the City” to three of my fellow classmates blogs.
My fellow classmate Shanice Mitchell also did a blog
with respect to mobility in the city, to be more specific the city of San
Fernando. On scrolling through Shanice’s blog, I was really amazed to see the different
perspective she took with respect to mobility. Her blog entry entitled “Giddy
up Horsey” really caught my attention. Here I am thinking about mobility in the
form of man’s technology example cars, buses etc but there are different forms also, natural
forms in the use of the horse. I am sure we have seen those old western movies
where the cowboys are riding horses from one city to another. This is the link
to her post http://mobilityinsanfernando.blogspot.com/2013/04/giddy-up-horsey.html.
Also another aspect to Shanice’s blog that
slipped me when I was doing my entry’s was the use of motor bicycles as a form
of mobility. This was indeed a good blog entry as motor bikes are becoming more
and more prevalent in society. With increasing traffic, persons are looking for
faster ways to get through the traffic and the motor bike is the solution. The
name of her entry on motor bikes is “Motorcycle : In with the new” and this is
true, motorcycles are the new way of mobility in Trinidad. http://mobilityinsanfernando.blogspot.com/2013/04/motorcycle-in-with-new.html.
One
final thing to be noted from Shanice’s blog is that we both had similar ideas in
that we both used the use of maxi taxis and bicycles (just to name a few) as
ways persons get around in the city. This was interesting as
we both did different entries at different times but yet still we have similar
ideas on forms of mobility. Here is a link to her entry on bicycles.http://mobilityinsanfernando.blogspot.com/2013/04/bicycle-out-with-old.html
My next classmate I looked at was Tabeeta Dwarika.
Her blog entry spoke entitled Decentralization:
Good or Bad? Spoke about the benefits of decentralization in that it reduces traffic congestion. In my 10th
blog entry I spoke about the problems that persons face daily due to traffic congestion.
In order to solve the traffic congestion my main focus was on the reduction on
car based mobility and the increase of alternative forms of mobility, I
suggested the use of the water taxi, mass transport, bicycles and encouraged
persons to walk more rather than use their cars. Tabeeta’s blog entry on
decentralization really intrigued me as decentralization never came to my mind
as an option to reduce traffic congestion in the city. Now thinking about it,
this is probably the main way to reduce traffic. Yes using different forms of
mobility will help the situation reduce traffic in the city, but when there are
thousands of persons heading the same direction at the same time, there is
little using alternative forms of mobility can do to reduce traffic congestion. .You can check out Tabeeta's blog entry on
decentralization here http://urbangeographer8.blogspot.com/2013/04/decentralization-good-or-bad_14.htm.
In addition, Tabeeta’s blog main theme was “Unsustainability in the City.” In
my opinion, the high percentage of cars as a form of mobility is one of the
main factors contributing to unsustainability in the city.
For my next comparison, I looked
at Christopher Mohip’s blog. Mr. Mohip’s blog was focused on the “ Social
Nightlife in an Urban World.” In his blog he spoke in great detail about the
night life that exists in an urban city. You may ask how can his blog on “Social
Nightlife in an Urban World” be related to my blog on “Mobility in the City”.
Well this is simple, whether it be you are going to get a burger or punch in
St. James or going to a night club in Port- of- Spain you have to use a form of
mobility to get there. So you may drive to Zen or take a maxi to the Avenue
or walk around St James looking for the burger cart with the least number of
persons, the point is you need forms of mobility to experience the night life as
Mr. Mohip speaks about in his blog. With respect to one specific blog entry by Christopher,
“Employment in Urban Nightlife” I found this particular post interesting. He
spoke about maxi taxi owners having a shuttle service where they pick up and
drop UWI students to and from popular
night clubs such as Zen at late hours in the night. I found this interesting as why after working whole day would a maxi owner now risk working a
shuttle service in the dangerous nighttime? Then I realized some of the
problems maxi taxi owners have. In recent time PTSC has increased the number of
buses there are on the bus route. This increase in the number of buses means
that there will be fewer passengers using maxis. This coupled with the fact
that the government has allowed all students in school uniform and persons over
60 years of age to have free access on the bus has made life as a maxi taxi
operator difficult. This may be one of the reasons that maxi owners have
shuttle services for UWI students to night clubs. These drivers are now finding
ways to make an extra form of income in light of some of the challenges they
face. You can check out Christopher’s blog entry on “Employment in Urban
Nightlife” http://socialnightlifetnt.blogspot.com/2013/04/employment-in-urban-nightlife.html#comment-form
I thank you for viewing my blog on "Mobility in the City" and till we meet again keep safe
Avinash Narine
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