Causes of Traffic Congestion; a Study of Owerri Municipal Area of IMO State

This research is concerned with the causes of road traffic congestion, a study of Owerri municipal. To achieve this, data was from primary and secondary sources. Primary data was from questionnaires while the secondary data were from journals and previous academic works of other researchers. The survey method of research was adopted for this study. Taro Yemane's method of calculating sample size was used to arrive at the sample size used which was 400 respondents. The questionnaire was distributed in parts of Owerri municipal which include Imsu junction axis = 100, Wetheral = 50, Ikenebu = 50, Control post = 50, Douglas = 50 and Alvan axis = 50. From the field survey and questionnaire, it was deduced that 66% of traffic in Owerri municipal is caused by drivers' impatient behavior, wrong parking, and disobedience to traffic rules (human factor) while 34% are caused by bad roads (physical factor). Traffic congestion cannot be analyzed without time of occurrence which was analyzed using Simple percentage analysis. It was discovered that 31.75% of traffic jam occurs during morning hours, from 7-9 am while 33.75% of traffic occurs from 5-7 pm. Inflow and outflow of traffic were also analyzed to observe the vehicular activity of the city and it made us understand the reasons for traffic congestion within Owerri municipal. This study recommended that an active traffic law enforcement agency be enacted to monitor reckless drivers and prosecute them accordingly an effective and efficient road maintenance culture.