Determinants of Traffic Congestion in the Metropolis of Douala, Cameroon: An integrated approach.

Abstract

Urban transportation has had a cardinal role in enhancing economic growth especially in the advanced countries of the World. This might not be true in developing countries where traffic congestion especially in urban metropolises is highly recorded. It is on the bases of the problem associated with poor growth in most developing countries that this work was conceived to investigate into the determinants of traffic congestion in the Douala metropolis, the economic capital of Cameroon. To achieve the goal of this study, a survey research designed was adopted on the bases of which primary and secondary data were collected and analyses. While the Primary data were observed at points of traffic congestion in Douala, the secondary data were obtained from the World Bank Database. The secondary data were analysed using the Vector Auto Regressive (VAR) technique. Based on the VAR technique, the study reveals that economic growth has a causal positive influenced on its self, real fuel consumption and further urban agglomeration. On the other hand, urban agglomeration used as a proxy for traffic congestion has a negative effect on urban growth and economic growth. Based on the above results, it is recommended that a remedial infrastructural development plan and a sustainable polycentric land use pattern with alternative efficient mode of public and private transportation be put in place for the future.

Keywords: Urban Transportation, Urban Agglomeration, Road Traffic Congestion, Agglomeration Economies, Monocentricity and Polycentrism.