Mauritius, a tiny island of 186, 500 square hectares with a population of 1.2 million inhabitants had 265, 841 vehicles on its roads at the end of 2002. This number is increasing steadily every year, so it is hardly surprising that our transport system is a source of perpetual headache to the authorities and frustration to road-users.

The main problem of traffic congestion is concentrated in the capital, Port-Louis, and its approach-roads. The morning of every working day sees endless queues, mainly of private cars, crawling (if they are lucky) into town. The slightest incident or disturbance brings them to a complete, and often lengthy, standstill? People on their way to work thus waste a great deal of time and surely start the day with frayed tempers. And of course they face the same difficulty when going home again.

Because the country is so densely populated the roadsides tend to be completely built-up as you approach the capital, so there is no real possibility of widening the roads. For the same reason alternative routes cannot be easily opened up.

For most people the obvious alternative to a private car is the bus. Buses, however, tend to be crowded, unreliable and not very comfortable. So modern air-conditioned vehicles have been brought in with the aim of persuading people to leave their cars at home in favour of this somewhat more luxurious form of public transport.

This congestion is not limited to the capital and is found at busy times of the day at many points all over the island. New flyovers have been built at considerable expense to speed up passage along main roads, but the problem simply moves to the next trouble-spot.

A more radical solution which is under study is the metro-leger or light railway- but this is an extremely expensive project which will take years to build with no guarantee that people would actually use it, as the cost of a ticket would be far higher than that of a bus?

So far we have painted a very pessimistic picture of the transport system in Mauritius. We must add, however, that the actual condition of the roads ? the main roads at least ? has greatly improved over recent years. Modern dual-carriage ways link one end of the island to the other and more are to be built. These roads are well-surfaced, clearly sign-posted and brightly lit at night. In built-up areas, traffic lights and humps (some say far too many?) control traffic and prevent speeding. Many dangerous bends have been eliminated through the building of straight new roads. Parking has been regulated in towns and drivers who fail to show a coupon on their windscreens are fined. On the whole there has been a considerable effort to modernise and improve the system.

Finally, what we see is a mixed picture: modernisation of the infrastructure on the one hand and apparently insurmountable problems on the other? Unfortunately, for the authorities, the public perception of the transport system seems to be more negative than positive and will probably continue to be so, for as long as people will be plagued by traffic jams?