City traffic takes toll on family bonds

City traffic takes toll on family bonds “ Seriously,

Nairobi traffic is no longer bearable..

National disaster, yes? Do something ...”

Photo/Kenna Claude

The People in Society February 17, 2014

“I am stuck in traffic.” For a long time, this has been used as an excuse when people get late to work, an appointment or meeting. Lately, the words are more than an excuse. It is true thousands of commuters in the city are spending long hours in traffic. Picture this. It is Seven O’clock in the evening. Joyclyne, a mum is drifting in and out of sleep as the matatu crawls through the heavy traffic along Jogoo Road.

A few minutes ago, she had an altercation with the tout and the driver for playing loud music. Her grouse was that she needed time for her mind to calm down. She is also angry that by the time she gets home, her child will be asleep. There is also a chance she will leave early morning before the baby wakes up. One seat ahead is a pupil already snoring.

On the next is a doctor, a teacher, a trader and a casual labourer in one of the supermarkets in the city. Each of them looks lost in thought. Perhaps the doctor regretting he lost a patient because he could not get to his station on time. The teacher could be wondering if she will catch enough sleep for the next day tomorrow. The trader counting losses because he was late in opening his job.
And cumulatively, this will eat into his earnings. The casual labourer perhaps is making a mental plan to wake up two hours earlier the next day since he lost some money for getting to work late. This is the scenario almost everyday for majority of commuters especially in the city. And it could be having a ripple effect in their lives. For example, the loss of income over time for the trader may mean they cannot provide for his family.
I described this scenario to a friend and she told me everyday she is on the verge of breaking down. “I don’t know how Kenyans do it, but the Government should give all of us medals for this exemplary tolerance,” she says. And she is not the only exasperated commuter especially in Nairobi. Recently, several took to the social media to vent out their frustrations.
“Dear President please declare Nairobi traffic a national disaster,” Otwori O’getembe wrote on Twitter. Few minutes later, there were many other users venting their anger at the amount of time they spend everyday sitting in traffic to and from work. Teddy Owynou’e was exasperated that he barely gets to see his children. “This jam has a bearing to our work and life balance @KideroEvans we leave when children are sleeping and come back to carry them to bed!” he wrote.
Many users seemed to share his opinion that, inevitably, traffic jams have affected social life especially between parents and their children. “I get home tired, my children too. We barely catch up because we all have to sleep early for the same routine the next day!” says Josephine Kendo. “Sometimes I see my children during weekends! I leave home early to make it to the office by Eight O’clock. I leave the office at Five O’clock, I queue sometimes for over an hour, I get stuck in traffic for another hour or so.
By the time I get home am exhausted and all I want is to sleep. I cannot pay attention to my children in this state!” says Agatha Kiong’o. Another user who calls himself Muhoss says: “Anyone who spends more than four hours in traffic should seek a tax exemption.” Prominent lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi also took to the social media to vent his frustrations: “After 3.5 hours on the road, a detour through Kiambu County I reached the office…tired…” Lisa Emali: “ How are we expected to be a productive nation when we spend hours in traffic, seriously?”
Health activist Sitawa Wafula was more concerned about the mental health: “ If you do this traffic twice a day five times a week every month, it better be your dream job…no other reason to subject self to this torture!” “Karen Agufana said: “I was out of the house by 6.30 am got to work at 9.30 am. How is it I am expected to be productive?” “At this rate, I may lose my husband to the house girl because I get home late and tired. Usually, my worry is whether I will get enough sleep or not,” she says.
Debora Kareithi says always being on the rush to get to work early has left the mobile phone as the most effective way for her and her husband to talk. “Let’s say I get home after Nine O’clock everyday. The first thing I want to do is find out about my three year daughter from the house girl. Sometimes I get to see her, sometimes I don’t. In my house, the rule is we sleep at 11 O’clock. That means I barely have time to catch up with my husband,” she says.
Lilian Wairimu Jaber says she lived in Rongai, Nairobi, for two years and working in town. “I would wake up at 4.45am be in a matatu before 5.30am to avoid traffic. I left work at 7.30 pm and would get home between 9.30 and 10 pm. I would go for three days without seeing my son and homework was never checked. I decided enough was enough and moved. Now, I get home early and we do homework with my son. Let’s say, now I am a happier and less tired mother,” she says.
Suzy Kwos says she lived in Ngoroi before she moved. “Getting back especially by matatu was hectic, but good for reading. I read a lot of online books. I would not leave home over the weekend unless it was something extremely important,” she says. Peter Kenga says he has had a few fights with his girlfriend because he got stuck in traffic and got late for dates. “Most people think saying you were caught up in traffic is an excuse to get late,” he says chuckling.
“Nairobi traffic is bad and it can really be messed up your life even if for a day,” he adds. Patrick Wachira, The Editor of Weekend Editions with The People, says the traffic gridlock in the city has impacted on social lives a great deal. “Parents barely get enough time with their children because they leave home early and go back when everyone is asleep,” he says.
Wachira says he has noticed that road rage incidences are on the raise as road users vent their anger at long waits in traffic. “The traffic jams try our patience and resilience. Some road users may have resigned to fate and accepted that the gridlocks are part of life. There others however that may have had it. I have seen instances where motorists engage in shouting matches especially of one was trying to overlap,” he says. Jared Otieno, an ambulance driver says several patients have died because he could not drive enough to save their lives.
Attempts to talk to various ambulance service providers on the patients that have died on their way to the hospital due to traffic gridlock did not yield fruits. Psychologists say the fact that many workers spend most of their time worrying about traffic means they are not giving their best. They say the first thing many people think of when it comes to traffic jams is the delay. In the morning there is stress because delays caused by traffic can make people late for work.
And at the end of the day, the afternoon rush hour is again a frustrating time because the workday is done and people want to get home to relax, and traffic is preventing it. Cumulatively, this kind of stress can be detrimental. Stress can lead to physical symptoms including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping. Research suggests that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms or diseases.
A research in 2008 by Gidraph Nduati, Assistant Professor United States International University and School of Business and Sylvester Butoyi on traffic congestion in Nairobi pinpoints the causes of the gridlock. Research “The main findings of this paper are that traffic congestion in the CBD has been caused by lack of proper planning due to the fact that the road capacity has not expanded to accommodate growth in the population of vehicles.
Traffic congestion was found to have negative impact on business performance,” they say. On the cost they say that businesses in the CBD have lost customers due to inaccessibility of the business premises because of traffic congestion and lack of parking. Customers have preferred to patronise those businesses which are in localities which are more accessible.
Traffic congestion has also caused businesses to incur high costs because of time lost by business owners when accessing the business promises, time taken by customers too has increased the cost of doing business in CBD. Some businesses have resulted to reserving parking spaces for the customers which has increased operational costs. Experts say it is time the private and public sector worked on a module to stagger the hours.
They say the 24-hour economy should be given serious thought before the gridlock gets out of hand. One social media user, Wangari Muhoro, says: “Think of staggering working hours (flexi hours) sell this to employers – this 8am – 5pm is outdated.” - By ROSE WANJIKU
The writer is the Features Editor at The People