Lagos Rolls out 820 New Buses to Mitigate Traffic Congestion

...We are building Lagos steadily, says Ambode

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday disclosed that it would roll out 820 high occupancy vehicles next year to kick-start its Bus Reform Initiative, a public transportation project it designed to ease the daily commute of Lagos residents.

On this account, the state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, acknowledged that he had succeeded in putting the state on good standing in the last two and half years with the support of its 24 million people.

This was contained in an address the governor delivered yesterday at a special Christmas party the state government organised and held simultaneously in 20 Local Government Areas in the state.

Ambode had proposed the Bus Reform Initiative with a view to deploying over 5,000 air-conditioned buses to replace the yellow commercial buses, which he said was no longer befitting for the state’s mega city status.

Aside the N30 billion sinking fund already set aside to kick-start its implementation, Ambode had said the state government would float a N100billion public transportation infrastructure bond, which he said would span between seven and 10 years to implement the initiative.

With a plan to roll out 820 buses next year, the Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Mr. Abiodun Dabiri, said transport infrastructure in the state would transform to one that eases the daily commute of the average Lagos in 2018.

Under the state Bus Reform Initiative, Dabiri disclosed that the state government had already procured 820 high occupancy vehicles (HOV) to mitigate traffic congestion across the state, noting that the buses would be deployed before the first half of the 2018 fiscal year.

With 820 buses expected before the first half of 2018, new bus termini and bus shelters are also planned to be built and completed, Dabiri added, saying the transportation landscape “will change to one that gives more access to transportation infrastructure in the state.”

He, therefore, urged Lagos residents to key into the vision of multimodal integrated transport system, which he said the Ambode administration had had been implementing to ease human and vehicular movement in the state.

When fully implemented, the managing director noted that commuting in Lagos would be comparable to transport system available in Europe with huge opportunity for employment and growth of the economy.