VEHICULAR traffic at the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) this year dropped by 2.06 per cent, a decline for the first time in nine years, General Manager, Rawlston Adams said.
Delivering a detailed report on the operations of the Demerara Harbour Bridge during the public Infrastructure Ministry’s end-of-year press conference on Thursday, Adams said both vehicular and marine traffic declined in 2017.

In 2017, 3,525,657 vehicles traversed the bridge when compared to 3,599,969 in 2016 – a reduction of 74,312 or 2.06 per cent. On a daily average 9,659 vehicles utilise the aged structure – 177 less than 2016.
According to Adams, prior to 2017, the average increase of vehicular traffic was five per cent.

As such, he said in 2018, the administration will return to the figures to determine the reason or reasons for the decline in vehicular traffic, but he said, the daily congestion, particularly during peak periods, may be a contributing factor.
Adams refrained from drawing a correlation between the decline in vehicular traffic and the increase in tolls that took effect this year.

“We had a toll increase but I don’t think that is the case,” he posited.
Marine traffic also contracted by 9.57 per cent, Adams told reporters while pointing out that in 2017, 1,124 vessels crossed over compared to 1,243 in 2016.
According to Adams, a slowdown in economic activities may have been a contributing factor for the decline in the movement of vessels.

But while vehicular and marine traffic have declined, the DHB Corporation raked in $803.9M in revenue in 2017 – a 51.5 per cent increase when compared to 2016. Last year, the corporation had garnered some $530.5M in revenue.
Adams told reporters that the increase is no surprise, explaining that it is strongly linked to the increase in tolls that took effect earlier in the year.

Marine Toll went up by $776,113 in 2017 with the corporation raking in some $21.775M. Similarly, vehicular toll went up by $277.4M with the corporation raking in some $777.162M. However, other revenues contracted by 49.3 per cent. In 2016, under the category “Other Revenue”, the corporation had garnered $9.8M, but the figure dropped this year to $4.9M.

The DHB Corporation expenditure totalled $707.684M in 2017 when compared to $512.663M. Adams noted that the increase in expenditure this year was as a result of major capital works done, such as the removal of the power pack and the installation of new pontoons, in addition to the alignment of the panels.

In 2018, Adams said the corporation will put forward a $267M proposal for capital projects which include the rehabilitation of four large pontoons and 15 regular pontoons; fabrication of 40 buoys, supply of 30,000 feet of wire ropes, and rehabilitation of the traffic office.