Traffic Congestion in Major Cities of Nigeria

This paper investigates traffic congestion which has become a common sight in most urban cities of Nigeria. A survey was conducted during the Annual National Conference of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) which held between 5th and 9th December 2011 at the Calabar Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort. 300 questionnaires were distributed among participants comprising experts in transportation planning and design as well as engineers of other disciplines, students, wives of engineers and other invited guests who constitute commuters, car owners/drivers, etc. 196 returns were made and these were analysed to ascertain the broad perspectives concerning the causes of traffic congestion in most urban cities in Nigeria. The results show that poor driving habits, poor road network, inadequate road capacity, and lack of parking facilities constitute the greatest causes of traffic congestion in Nigeria. Also, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja were identified as cities most affected by traffic congestion.