ISSN 2360-7998
Abstract
Accepted 7th July, 2017
Mobility is a continuous process for man and he has through environmental determinism overtime overcome the restrictions posed by darkness, especially within urban spaces where activities are unending running from dawn to dusk. The focus of this study was the pattern of nocturnal movements in Calabar. Primary data was employed, retrieved from 652 questionnaires which were administered simultaneously at 33 strategic nuclei in the 22 wards of the city between 9pm to 12 midnight. Results show that taxis and buses were majorly used (63%), most of which were for relaxation purposes (43%). Security trepidations were most worrisome (58%) and 9pm was the curfew for 54% of Calabar residents. Calabar South had more residents moving within their vicinity and the highest trip receptors (trips to origin nuclei) were Atekong, Edim-Otop by CUDA and Tinapa/8 Miles areas. Contrarily, the major trip generators (trips from origin nuclei) were Marian by IBB, Beach Market, Bogobiri, Watt Market, Stadium by IBB and Calabar road by De-Choice. In all there were more trip generators (388) than receptors (264). Further spatial outputs shows dispersion and 2 hotspots for receptors at the northern flanks and 8 coldspots in the city center and a vice versa for trips from generators. The mean center of trip generators was around Millennium Park and Atekong for receptors. The result of the Independent Samples t-Test revealed statistical significant difference between the nocturnal trips to and from origin in Calabar (t = 4.285, p = 0.00). It was recommended that security be improved enroute and at nocturnal hotspots, better transportation infrastructure and system be implemented and that the findings of the study be adopted for urban transportation planning and management.
Keywords: Nocturnal, Pattern, Movement, Nuclei, Calabar.