EVALUATING THE EFFECT OF STREET TRADING ON TRAFFIC PERFORMANCE AND CONTROL

ABSTRACT
The solid base of this project is the effect of street trading on traffic performance and controls: a case study of Offa Town particularly, Owode Market and Oloffa Way.
It comprises of five chapters in which each of the chapters analyzed the view of the project.

Chapter one deals with the introduction of the project, the causes and the short comings of street trading, the aim and objectives, statement of the problem, justification, scope of the study and description of the study area.

Also include in this chapter the methodology, that is, the methods employed to acquired information and data, Chapter two based on the literature review of the project, the causes and effect of obstruction of traffic flow, which is the effect of parking, street trading and delay on traffic performance, the description of the project areas, past effort made on the problem.

Chapter three, this deals with the collection of data, the studies of the behavior of the parties involved, that is, the traders, drivers and pedestrians.

Also included the opinions gathered through the questionnaires. Chapter four is totally based on the analysis and designs of data collected.

Chapter five presents the conclusion and recommendation suggested for the problems.

CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
Traffic performance under normal flow is affected by many conditions which include delay, when the traffic is impeded by some external factors, traffic demands on the capacity for the road, weather, Peak and off Peak period factor. +
With these conditions, it is mostly or usually a great problem for a smooth flow of traffic or traffic performance, because delay which is being caused by other vehicles on the road constitutes traffic congestion on its own. So, also is the problem of traffic, because with a bad weather like, hay, rainfall etc.

Traffic is bound to be slow and also constituting to traffic congestion.

The peak and off peak factor influences traffic flow, usually high at peak periods, because demand increases and becoming normalized at off peak periods, most especially the major roads.

There is also, the problem of street trading which contribute to the problems of traffic performance (congestion).
Street trading means selling, exposing or offering for sale of any article on a street.
Also, street trading is an unauthorized act of carrying out trading activities on the open street, display stand, selling or offering of goods or any kind of services whatsoever, operating both sales and market stall that encroached on any public road.

According to Cross J., (2000) (052 Glo.Adv. Res.J.Manager. Bus.stud)
“Street” includes any road, footway or other area to which the public has access without payment.
Through street trading, a long established element of the populace was been repressed before, by harassment and prosecution by law enforcement agents, but of recent, it has flourished as it is allowed to operate, which is closely linked or connected to the process of urbanization and the unstable economic situation, used to be in a specified format in the olden days with the traders coming to the urban areas to sell their farm product from the rural areas on stipulated days.

But, these days, the traders had established themselves around the key transportation modes and other sides of economics and social activities.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Street trading has impeded easy movement and deteriorates traffic performance.

This trading and other activity has led to a drastic reduction in the design width for traffic movement which is causing unprecedented traffic congestion on our roads. Besides this effect, other areas affected were assessed.
1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES
Aim of this project is to explore effect of street trading on traffic performance and controls: a case study of Offa Town.
Objectives of this project are:
1) Inventory of traders and trading in Owode market area of Offa Town, Kwara State.
2) Inventory of traders and trading along Oloffa Way, Offa, Kwara State
3) To evaluate the effects of the street traders on traffic movement
4) To increase the pedestrians safety within the study areas.
5) Once those above listed aim and objectives can be achieved, there will be ease on traffic performance.
 
1.4 JUSTIFICATION
The justification of this project is to explore the effect of street trading on traffic performance and finding possible remedies to decrease its effects to barest minimum in Offa Town.
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This project studies the effect of street trading on traffic performance: a case study of Offa Town, particularly Owode Market Area and Oloffa Way.
Owode Market, being the point of affected area due to high volume of the traffic coming to the region and influences of traders trading within the axis.
1.6 DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA
Offa Town is an ancient town and Headquarters of Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria. It is the second largest Town in the State, Offa is located in central Nigeria with geographic coordinates of 80 90N 40 43E.
1.7 METHODOLOGY
An inventory study of the road user consideration was done during which the effect of street trading was observed.

Also the driver, pedestrians and commuter behavior to the problems were observed.
And causes of delay apart from street trading were not over looked, since street trading is not the only cause of traffic congestion.
Data were also collected; such data include the volume of traffic and the speed of vehicles at the areas under the case study.
The method employed can be divided into two categories, these are:
1.8 PRIMARY SOURCE
This consist of the information collected from site during feasibility studies of the areas affected and also, through interview at both locations by interviewing the drivers, traders, commuters and pedestrians. Some data were collected.
1.9 SECONDARY SOURCE
This comprises of information obtained through the questionnaires distributed among the different parties involved and these included the drivers, pedestrians, traffic whom are the division of the Nigeria police force whom are supposed to be controlling the flows of traffic in the affected areas.

The purpose of this is to obtain the opinion of the parties involved and their views on how the problem could be solved.

Also included the plate (pictures) of the affected areas