Traffic Congestion and Academic Performance of JHS Students in DBTC-Cebu
Traffic congestion is understood as the condition where the flow on vehicles are slower due to the large density of traffic using the road network beyond its capacity. It has been an ongoing problem for commuters to deal with traffic congestion on a daily basis for it has an overwhelming impact to them. Most complaints on traffic congestion are about how it can cause delays for commuters, the time spent in traffic can cost them their sleeping periods by waking up earlier to avoid traffic peak. Another problem is that, traffic congestion leads to higher financial cost to motorists. The longer the motorist is affected by the traffic, the higher his consumption of fuel will be (Falcocchio & Levinson, 2015). According to the Reader’s Digest, the average American wastes around 1,400 dollars in a year on fuel and other necessities.
A study that was conducted by McCombe in 2002, stated in the conclusion that there were negative effects on the heavy congestion toward the job performance of employees. It was observed that workers had lower productivity levels and that they had the problems like sleep deprivation and fatigue. It was also observable that the workers were prone to stress build-up. Heavy traffic can also lead to respiratory diseases and heart problems. It was studied that long exposure to polluted air can cause problems in our health system since traffic is like a daily problem that commuters experience (Jalagat Jr. , 2015). It can be said that traffic has a large influence of decision of the people on whether where they want to work, where they want to live, and on how they would want to travel daily. Rahane (2014) in “Traffic congestion - Causes and solutions: A study of Talegaon Dabhade City “states that the main causes of traffic congestion are the following: illegal parking, increase in population, high sales rate of vehicles, poor planning and management. With the growing population rate is the one of the considered reason in traffic congestion. This is followed by the high sales rate of the vehicles. The more people mean the more will buy vehicles to be personally owned. The high purchasing rate would lead to the increase of volume of vehicles that will accommodate the outdated design of the road network. Followed by the poor management in the road networks and infrastructures, this would lead into having a daily suffering for commuters and motorists. Adding to this would be the illegal parking and the poor discipline of drivers. Illegal parking is one of the reasons because it consumes the road which could hinder in the flow rate of vehicles.
Travel Time and its Effects
Travel time simply mean the amount of time spent traveling going to your destination or the place you want reach. This can help you to know the amount of time your spending going to the places that you want to go. It can also estimate the number of hours that you spend during peak or rush hours. Travel time can be affected by traffic congestion because it may extend the time allotted for traveling and might get you late for work or school. According to Mid-American Region Country Transportation cars that uses freeway or expressway during AM and PM peak hours experience longer travel time. The average speed of the car travelling during AM peak hours is 49. 45 MPH while during AM peak hours the car travels 48. 63 MPH. Commuters or Private Vehicles User surely experience longer travel time than free flow hours because the average speed of cars during free flow is 55. 72 MPH which is more faster during peak hours. They may experience stress, exhaustion and tardiness due to long travel time or long period of time being stuck or stranded on the road. Some drivers experience driver aggression caused by frustration as a result of delay or traffic congestion (Shinar, 1998). Longer travel time could also mean to a bigger cost because of fuel consumption and maintenance of the vehicle.
The Victoria Transport Policy Institute conducted a study about the annual cost of the vehicles used and classified into five different types. First, is the luxury cars cost $14, 161 a year and second is the sports utility vehicle cost around $17,367 a year. Third, is the average car cost $9,753 per year and fourth is Economy car cost nearly $5,900 a year. Lastly, is the public transit which cost $966 a year. This sums up the whole budget for a vehicle in a year and it is very expensive for an ordinary employee with only minimum salary. This could be a hindrance for some people who are commuters because public transit could cause a lot of money. This may affect the other parts of the plan seeing that you must pay for the public transit in order to reach the intended destination.
Academic Performance affected by Traffic Congestion
Academic performance is defined by Good & Merkel (1959) as the reflection on the understanding and abilities that has been acquired and developed through the subjects, this can be measured through test and examinations which gives the scores of the students. It shows the competency of students in completing the task given. In the study conducted by Gašparović (2015) concluded that transportation problems can have an effect to the academic achievements of students. Even though it had a weak connection to each other, it was still an important find. He stated that the students consume a lot of time in their way to school due to transportation problems (traffic congestion, transportation lines, public transport). The reasons of why the students’ lates and absences is increasing are related to the long travel time that spend in going to school. It was also investigated that the long travel time of students hinders in their school activities as they suffer from lack of sleeping time, fatigue, and stress.
