The Lagos State Government says work is in progress to integrate the rail, road and water transport systems to address the persistent gridlocks in the state.
The state’s Commissioner for Transport, Mr Ladi Lawanson, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.
“In order to get everything right, the state government implementing a master plan to integrate the major transportation systems to ensure free flow of traffic and curb incessant gridlocks.
“The transportation master plan involves the three major modes of transportation: the rail, road and water.
“For the road transport, work is going on to ensure the transportation sector is transformed to the modern system which is practised globally.
“The road system has the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which we have been using for a while and the state served as the operator.
“We were running it like that until we found out that the method was not suitable because government, to be frank, has no business to be in a business.
“Rather, the government has decided to opt out and now be a regulator,” he said.
Lawanson also said the state government was committed to ensuring the safety of the people using the waterways as their means of transportation within the state.
According to him, to tackle emergencies on the waterways more efficiently, the Lagos State government is to procure life-saving, quick response boats.
“The state government is working on bringing ideals and best practices on water transportation as the sub-sector requires millions dollars of investment, if we are to do it right.
“We are going to procure life-saving boats, top speed boats and quick response boats such that, anytime there is an emergency, we will rescue promptly without recording any casualty,” he told NAN.
Lawanson said, “The government also distributes free life jackets to jetties periodically to save lives on waterways.
“There is at least a guard in every jetty in the state to properly kit passengers with life jackets before any journey because safety of life and property is very important.”
The commissioner said the government would set up a security institution on water transport, but that the institution would require a lot of training because water transportation was hazardous.
According to him, the government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a French firm, Alstom, to complete the Blue Rail project after a technical review.
“Before now, what was done was civil works; other components including signal, electrical and rolling stock have not been covered.
“Alstom is very good in the different aspects of the technology required to make it a success,’’ he said.
Lawanson told NAN that discussions with potential partners and financiers had also commenced on the Red Line aspect of the project which was referred to as ‘Phase Two.’
According to him, it will run from Marina to Agbado on the northern flank of Lagos.
“Putting a rail project together requires a lot of patience and resourcefulness in terms of financing, where the financing will come from and who we are going to use,” the commissioner disclosed.
Tag: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
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LASG integrates rail, road, water transport to ease traffic – Commissioner
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Breaking: Bus crushes man to death at Ikorodu
A middle aged man was killed Thursday afternoon by a bus on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane at Irawo Bus stop, Ikorodu Road, Kosofe Local Government Area, Lagos.
Eyewitnesses said he was knocked down by a BRT vehicle as he tried to cross the BRT expressway.
The accident occurred a few metres from the Irawo pedestrian bridge.
The vehicle, with its passengers, sped off after a mob gathered.
Details later….
Read Also: Police warn vehicle owners
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World Bank calls for improved infrastructure in African cities
The World Bank on Tuesday called for improved infrastructure for African cities to enable them develop along with their growing populations.
Mrs Bella Bird, the World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, Malawi, Burundi and Somalia made the call at the bank’s training workshop for African journalists in Dar-es-Salaam.
Bird said that as African cities were growing in population, there was need to improve their infrastructure to fast track development on the continent.
She quoted the 2016 World Bank Report as saying that Africa’s urban population stood at 472 million people.
She said that due to urbanisation, more migrants were presently pushed to cities from the countryside with another 187 million people to be added to urban cities by 2025.
“This is the equivalent of adding another Nigeria to Africa’s population.
“Africa’s urban population will double over the next 25 years, reaching one billion people by 2040.
“Congestion and mobility problems affect the ability of people to connect to jobs, and firms to markets.”
Bird said that Tanzania was not the only country facing challenges of growing urban population many other African countries were being confronted with same problems.
“But in Tanzania, we are particularly pleased that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, which we helped to develop and finance, is already bringing relief to city residents.
“In spite of some growing pains with the system, the project is popular and effective as the average round trip travels time for commuters using BRT line has been reduced by 90 minutes a day.’’
Bird said that such transformation infrastructure investments were important for cities to increase their productivity and generate jobs for the youths.
She also encouraged African countries to leverage on the private sector to finance and execute infrastructure projects as public financing was never enough to bridge the infrastructure gap.
Bird said that the workshop organised by the bank was aimed at strengthening the capacity of the media in urbanisation reportage and related issues in the sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr Eric Chinje, the Chief Executive Officer, African Media Initiative, the resource person for the workshop, said that the workshop was aimed at improving quality reportage on the impact of urbanisation in major African cities.
He harped on the need for the media to use its influencing powers on the government and other relevant international organisations to ensure solid outcomes for African citizens.
The World Bank 2016 Report on Urbanisation titled: “Africa’s Cities: Opening Doors to the World, said that Africa was the continent most affected with urbanisation.
The bank said that African cities were 29 per cent more expensive than cities in countries with similar income levels.
It said that African households faced higher costs relative to their per capita GDP than do households in other regions such as Asia.
“For example, in Dar es Salaam, 28 per cent of residents live at least three to a room; in Abidjan, 50 per cent and in Lagos, Nigeria, two out of three people live in slums.’’
The report said that city dwellers pay around 35 per cent more for food in Africa than in low income and middle income countries elsewhere.
The one-week workshop with the theme: “Strengthening Reportage and Coverage of Urbanisation and Related Issues in sub-Saharan Africa is being attended by journalist from 40 African countries.
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LAMATA, LASAA warn public against phony job adverts
Lagos State Government agencies, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), have warned residents against applying for phony job advertised on public utilities.
The agencies told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that the consequences of patronising advertisements placed on some of the LAMATA bus sheds and other places open spaces were calamitous.
NAN reports that most of the newly upgraded LAMATA bus sheds have been defaced with phony jobs placement by unscrupulous people who are out to scam unsuspecting job seekers.
Most of the job adverts were written with black ink and most written under the cover of the night when there is less presence of security personnel.
Almost all the newly constructed LAMATA bus sheds of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) have the Job adverts. The sheds at CMS, Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Costain, Barracks, Ojota and Ketu among others were not spared.
One of the BRT Bus Ticket sellers on the employ of LAMATA, Ronke Adisa, told NAN that the adverts were often placed in the night to evade arrest by the Police.
“We come in the morning to see the job adverts written on the bus sheds. We are aware that they are not genuine and I have even warned someone copying the numbers written on the wall.
“Most of the job seekers may not be aware of it because they are desperate. Things are very hard for people, so some people want to use that avenue to exploit.
“People engaging in this act are heartless by fleecing people who are already depressed. Aside that, they are also destroying the beauty of the bus sheds.
“I implore those concerned to find a way of arresting the perpetrators of this ungodly act,’’ she said.
A LAMATA Supervisor, Tunde said that some of the phone numbers written by the fake advertisers were traceable, so, law enforcement agents could track them if they were willing to.
“Some of the phone numbers are genuine because they needed to get those that will fall prey to their scam.
“Out of curiosity, I have dialled some of the numbers and I found out that the line was active; I wonder why security agencies cannot track them down to serve as deterrent.
“I want the security agencies to be alive to their responsibility and track down those responsible for this act who know they may not be only fraudsters but kidnappers.
“For us working at the BRT stations, it is not our duty to be on the lookout for those responsible but to attend to the customers,’’ he said.
Reacting, the Head, Media and Communication, LAMATA, Mr Kolawole Ojelabi, warned the public to disregard the deceitful adverts placed on its properties by the fraudsters.
“I am appealing to the public to be guided about the fake job adverts placed on our bus sheds. We are not responsible for it and we don’t advertise jobs.
“We have plans for the spaces on the LAMATA bus sheds which we have concluded plans to concession for genuine adverts.
“As a responsible company that is out to serve people, we are aware of the fake job adverts and we have alerted security agencies about it and some arrests have been made.
“We have reported the case to the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Offences and they are working to see that the perpetrators are brought to justice,’’ he said.
Ojelabi warned that LAMATA would not be responsible for any untoward effect on anybody patronising the fake job advertisers.
“We are not responsible for the adverts and we are using this opportunity to warn members of the public on the consequences of patronising scammers.
“Some of these adverts may not be only to defraud but they may also be to kidnap people, so, I want members of the public to be guided on these adverts on LAMATA bus sheds.
“We will continue to serve the people and see to their welfare by providing efficient and qualitative transport service,’’ he said.
An official of LASAA said that the existing laws prohibiting adverts on public spaces was still in place and anyone found contravening the law would be dealt with.
“We have existing laws that prohibit the display of such adverts. Those responsible for such adverts are contravening the law and they will be prosecuted when caught.
“LASAA will not condone such act, especially when it is not in the interest of the public. Relevant security agencies are on the heels of the perpetrators.
“The laws that prohibit such advert placements is not just for the LAMATA bus sheds but for all the public spaces we have.
“Nobody has the right to paste posters unless approved by LASAA. I also want people to be wary of paying attention to those adverts in their interest,’’ he said.
NAN reports that many residents have complained of being defrauded after apply for such jobs.
Some said that after applying, you were asked to go and pay a certain amount for interview. After paying that, the fraudsters again ask you to pay thousands to get the job which in the end would not come.
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‘Reconsider hawking ban’
World Christian Council Association has appealed to the Lagos State government to reconsider its decision to enforce its ban on street hawking.
Chairman of the association, Primate Ayoola Omonigbehin, said on Thursday that hawking was a consequence of unemployment and had kept many young people away from crime. But some have now “found themselves behind bars.”
Section One of the Lagos State Street Trading and Illegal Market Prohibition Law 2003 restricts street trading and hawking in the metropolis. It came under strict enforcement in Lagos from July 1.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode gave the order following the destruction of over 49 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses by hoodlums last month, causing over N139 million worth of damage.
The violence was sparked by the death of a hawker, who was knocked down by an articulated truck while trying to evade arrest from officials of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI).
But Omonigbehin argued that since the enforcement began, “Some people, who kept themselves from crime through the little they earned from petty trading, suddenly found themselves behind bars.”
The law, he added, could “ruin the poor and make their children criminals.”
Omonigbehin, who commended Governor Ambode’s Smart City project in partnership with Dubai City, United Arab Emirates (UAE), said focusing on young people’s creativity could make Lagos “one of the truly developed modern cities in the world.”
He urged the government to help “put our youths on the ladder of progress and greatness.”
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Classic buses for classic commuters
LAGOS State Government has taken a major step towards easing commuters’ pains. Last Thursday; it launched 434 air-conditioned buses and inaugurated the expanded Mile 12-Ikorodu Road.
Governor Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State, Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu performed the ceremony.
The buses, tagged BRT Classic or BRT Upgrade, according to the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Dayo Mobereola, are not owned by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), or the government, but provided by a private firm on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The government provided the infrastructure while the private operators brought in the vehicles to run according to LAMATA’s guidelines.
This, he said, is the hallmark of the new thinking and commitment of the government to providing safe, reliable, comfortable and affordable motorised options for discerning Lagosians who love comfort.
The option, according to him, became imperative due to the gridlock over the last decade. He said not only would the government improve its presence in the sector, it would also ensure the reduction of vehicles on the roads, which would in no small measure ensure cleaner air and environmental preservation, because of reduced emission of carbon-monoxide and other green house gasses into the atmosphere.
Mobereola said the new path was conceptualised in 2008, when the government began the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Scheme. He, however, admitted that “along the line we got derailed and lost that essential part of the scheme that would have attracted it to the business class and professional groups. While we concentrated attention on providing service to the masses, artisans and traders who had no opportunity and may not be able to get their own cars, we neglected to serve a critical segment who might have their cars, or have the means to buy, but may have decided against it if government had provided an alternative that is comfortable, reliable and efficient”.
He said the result was the huge deluge of private vehicles, hundreds of which are added daily by those who have the capacity to acquire private vehicles. Mobereola said the government was determined to make motorised transportation the hub of mass transit in the state, while the waterways and the light rail would be introduced to add to public transportation alternatives for residents of the state.
The BRT, which was introduced on March 17, 2008, on the Ikorodu-CMS route, Mobereola said, has to date carried no fewer than 350 million passengers, and these ones on the daily basis, will carry almost 450,000 passengers.
According to the commissioner, the new thinking is that a city with 22 million people, 60 percent of who must move from one point to the other needs efficient, reliable, accessible and safe transportation system.
Assuring Lagosians of government’s commitment, he said the Ambode administration will in the coming months flood the state with modern and comfortable BRTs adding: “this is just an example of what we planned for Lagos State”.
Transportation experts agreed no less with Mobereola, they argued that if traffic gridlocks could be felt in developed economies of the world with advanced and fully integrated modes of transportation, Lagos with wholesale reliance on the oldest mode of transportation should be expected to worsen in the next decade if government refuses to deepen its involvement and provide leadership in the sector.
Speaking on the road,the commissioner praised the people for their understanding and forbearance all through the planning and execution of the newly expanded road that now has the BRT road at the median, adding that 10 stakeholders’ fora in all were held, all to ensure the buys-in of residents.
“Managing the people while construction was going on simultaneously was a great challenge. We learnt from the mistakes of the past – mostly operational.
“We had 10 stakeholders’ fora, three before the construction work started and seven during the project. We were engaging the people at every stage and they were guiding us. It was close project that involved the community because we needed their buy-in for us to succeed.
He said the project will improve the traffic situation along that corridor. As more people enter the BRT buses, the road will be freer; we are also doing the engineering on the road, especially at the junctions to increase the capacity of the road and make the way big enough to accommodate more traffic.
He said the N30 billion project which was financed by the French Development Agency (AFD), the World Bank and the state government, would enhance the mobility of the people and reduce travel time between CMS and Ikorodu by 60 percent, reducing a journey which presently takes an average of two and half hours to 45 minutes. He said the BRT will give priority to public transport, which is a mass carrier for a lot of people.
Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Ikorodu Constituency 1, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade said the project will add value to the area.He, therefore, challenged the people to maintain the project to encourage the government.
The Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabir Sotobi, praised the government for the success of the project and called for the execution of the Ipakodo jetty, which he said would further boost the transportation initiative of the government.
Representative of Mr Yemi Adeola, the Managing Director of Sterling Bank Plc, (the financier of the buses), Mr Lanre Adesanya thanked the state government for giving the bank the opportunity to partner in making life better for the people of the state. He said the project would benefit no fewer than 4000 families directly and provide jobs for thousands more who would work as ticketers, vendors, mechanics, even as he said the bank has reduced the prevalence of cash in the system.