By Oyebola Owolabi

Lagos State is not phasing out yellow buses, but modifying their operations to allow regulation of the sector, Transport Commissioner Dr. Frederic Oladeinde said yesterday.

He spoke at the 2021 ministerial news conference to mark Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second year in office.

The commissioner said: “It will be unfair to say we will kick out the yellow buses because we will only have unemployment and more problems. Our plan is that the drivers will be reformed, trained and asked to form cooperatives so that they can come together and get financial incentives and also get buses and pay in instalments.”

Oladeinde decried the persistent traffic congestion in Apapa and its environs despite the introduction of the electronic-call up system.

He said the government would do more to restore sanity to the axis.

According to him, the state is building alternative seaports at Lekki and Badagry to decongest Apapa and its environs of persistent gridlock.

The commissioner said the government was discussing with the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to absorb oil tanker drivers into the E-call up system.

Read Also: Awaiting Southsouth security outfit

He said funding was delaying repair of the burnt Airport Flyover, near Toyota bus stop, on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

Oladeinde said the First and Last Mile (FMLM) buses will be introduced next month as part of the state’s bus reform initiative to ease transportation problem.

He said 300 buses, with e-ticketing validation, have been procured for the first phase.

Other projects under the initiative, he said, are the construction of bus terminals at Abule-Egba, Ojota, Agege, Nacho and Ajah.

Oladeinde said the state has partnered an international firm to assemble 1,000 taxi cars under its ‘Lagos Ride’ scheme.

He added that the state has secured funding to complete the blue rail line from Mile 2 to Marina as part of efforts to reduce travel time, promote multi-modal transport and facilitate intelligent transport system.