THESE days if you are stuck on the road during peak hours, there’s a high chance you’d be screwed.
That’s because you’ll obviously arrive late at your intended destination – and miss your connecting bus, or your doctor’s appointment, your date, your movie or your job interview.
Just think about the worst thing that could happen to you if you are caught up in a monster traffic jam, like the ones we experience in the capital twice daily, five days a week.
You could be fired from your job, you could miss your court case, you could miss dating someone perfect for you or you could miss saying goodbye to someone you love.
Over time, getting stuck in endless road traffic lines trigger personal stressors because of the somewhat unpredictable nature, delays, and general chaos of traffic congestion.
But one century ago our roads were much different, in Suva at least.
“When I left Fiji three years ago there were no land motor.”
That reflection was part of a paper presented at the Imperial Motor Transport Conference in London in 1914 by Fiji historian and colonial administrator, Adolf B. Brewster.
“We had two transitory visits of cars, one that was kept for a while by a resident and the other owned by a well-known motorist, Mr C.J. Glidden in a ‘Napier’,” Brewster continued.
Glidden arrived in Fiji while on his way to Australia in 1905.
Back then, Fiji had no cars so the motor’s “dashing about” in Suva was “nine days of wonder to the natives”, according to a report in The Fiji Times of December, 1905.
Between 1913 and 1914, at least eight cars were running around the streets of Suva
As you can imagine, the air in Suva’s streets would have been fresh and crisp, a far cry from today’s clogged roads and smoke-tinged air.
One of the first Suva resident to own a car in Fiji was Sir Henry Marks.
According to The Fiji Times of January 31, 1914, Marks imported two large cars to transport people between Suva and the Rewa River.
This purchase of his, slowly became the start of Fiji’s automotive industry.
Fast forward to June 1, 2025 and the story is different – cars have invaded our roads.
They have also brought about a host of problems, from lovo-like potholes and frustrating traffic congestion to road accidents and air pollution.
Fiji Bureau of Statistics figures note that at independence, only 19,173 vehicles were registered in Fiji.
That number has increased exponentially over the years; from around 19,000 in 1970, numbers increased to 47,290 vehicles in 1980; 80,139 in 1990; 114,743 in 2000 and 165,749 in 2010.
Since 1996, the number of registered vehicles in the country has remained above 100,000 annually, which means we have hit the 100k a year mark for over 30 years.
That translates to 30 years of serious noise and air pollution – puffing out exhaust fumes and the production of belching and rattling sounds.
According to Ministry of Transport statistics, in 2022, there were 139,379 registered vehicle in Fiji: 94, 574 cars; 27, 402 vans; 8054 buses, 1515 trailers; and 84 motorcycles.
By vehicle class, there were 103, 294 private cars; 19,601 commercial vehicles, 13,844 public service vehicles, 433 government vehicles, 246 diplomatic vehicles and driving school vehicles.
While the number of cars may be an indicator of the wealth accumulated by individuals and families, its oversaturation on our limited and pothole-riddled road networks has been a cause for concern for some time now.
In fact, car numbers have not been the only thing shooting up.
Over the years, up also were the number of traffic violations, pothole problems, traffic accidents and deaths, and complaints from road users.
In March this year, Land Transport Authority CEO, Irimaia Rokosawa said Fiji’s roads were becoming increasingly congested, with over 10,000 new vehicles registered in the past two years, bringing the total to 154,000 in a country with a population of under a million.
Rokosawa said while vehicle registrations increased by seven percent, there was still no policy to remove old and unroadworthy vehicles.
“There needs to be changes in regulations. We are good at acquiring and maintaining vehicles, but disposal is where we fall short. Recycling programs need to be re-vamped, and a vehicle disposal policy must be introduced,” he said.
Rokosawa said LTA was working on an end-of-life policy.
While authorities agree that the increasing number of vehicles in Fiji is a rising a challenge, nothing concrete has been found to effectively tackle the issue.
We only need to open our eyes to realise that our system of road network cannot keep up with the influx of vehicles we are importing every month.
Our rush hour traffic congestions are getting longer and lasting longer. They are also starting very early in the morning and ending late in the evening.
In 2019, the LTA engaged an overseas vehicle inspection centre to carry out pre-shipment vehicle inspection in exporting countries.
The Japan Export Vehicle Inspection Center (JEVIC) was set up to sign off on vehicles in the country of origin before they were brought to Fiji.
This was an attempt to improve the quality of cars on Fiji roads.
While the quality of cars has been the focus, the escalating numbers have not necessarily been controlled.
There is definitely a need to establish standards for registration and licensing, controlling, coordinating, planning and implementing road safety in Fiji.
In the past few years, as climate change talks picked up at the global level, Fiji saw an increase in the number of hybrid vehicles imported from Japan.
These vehicles were supposed to be energy efficient and cost effective, reducing carbon emissions and air pollution.
However, the presence of too many of these hybrid vehicles makes one wonder whether emissions have really been reduced.
Perhaps proper data collection is needed to ascertain whether this has been the case.
The fast pace of development and population expansion over the past few years within the Lami-Nausori corridor have greatly influenced the country’s transportation system to the point that it can be safe to deduce that efforts to reduce carbon emission is now questionable.
Fiji had indicated its commitment to reduce carbon emissions through a list of Nationally Determined Contributions, which is specific to the energy sector.
Our leaders aim to reduce our energy sector’s total carbon dioxide emissions by around 30 per cent by 2030.
Government hopes to achieve this through the transport sector. Land transport is supposed to be the biggest contributor to this mitigation effort.
However, if the number of cars on our roads is not controlled, if indicators show an oversupply coupled with the deteriorating road conditions, increasing road accidents and offences and worsening road congestions, then talks of reducing greenhouse gases and being environmentally would be just hot air.
The rhetoric on climate crisis action needs to stop and decisive actions need to be made.
Replacing poorly-maintained diesel vehicles need to continue.
The importation of electrified cars, bus, rail or ferry which has been in the pipeline for some time is yet to be fully realised.
A local research contained in the Fiji Transport Data Audit and Strategy 2020 has found out that although electronic vehicles would be energy efficient, it would contribute less to revenue annually than an internal combustion vehicle and hybrid vehicles.
It would be interesting to know how government will deal with this issue.
Until we meet on this same page same time next week, stay blessed, stay healthy and stay safe!
