The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kayode Opeifa

  • Lagos creates new directorate to address commuters’ problems

    A new transportation agency known as the Directorate of Public Transportation and Commuter Services (DPTCS) has been established by the Lagos State government.

    The Commissioner for Transportation Comrade Kayode Opeifa, who made this known in his office, said the new unit would help collate data of all commercial bus operators, such as drivers, conductors and owners.

    It would also serve as an ombudsman between commuters and bus drivers as residents who have any grievance with any commercial vehicle has the opportunity of reporting such drivers to the directorate.

    Opeifa said the directorate after documenting the grievance would call the commercial vehicle owner, who would in turn produce the concerned driver, who might equally have to produce the conductor where applicable to address the allegations that might have been levied against them.

    He said the new directorate and the Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA) would, ultimately, be charged with regulating and standardising public transportation and ensuring that all issues relating to the safety of the commuters who are residents of the state are addressed.

    He said: “Our people deserve the right to live right. Whatever anybody anywhere in the world is entitled to as a right should not be denied Nigerians.

    “That is why we are taking the steps to ensure that public transportation in the state is safe, secured and affordable through the public transportation management system which we just released to the public.”

    According to Opeifa, the directorate would also be in charge of managing the routing system being proposed for adoption by commercial buses in the state.

    “Other responsibilities of the directorate includes to co-ordinate the taxi industry in the state, conduct research for the purposes of discovering better ways of keeping Lagos moving with pride and dignity, make plans for the management and development of the taxi industry in Lagos State and prescribe penalties for any person, organisation or association who fails to observe any provision if the state’s transportation law, even as it must always ensure that commuters have the best experience while patronising public transportation in the state,” he said.

    The Commissioner, therefore, urged all commercial bus owners, drivers and conductors to embrace the registration exercise which is still ongoing across the state, adding that the initiative is to help drive sanity into their operations and make the business of public transportation more profitable.

    He said though full enforcement of the law started since January 1, the government still left the window open, for operators who were yet to register to do so.

    He added that the government would not shirk its responsibility to regulate the operations of commercial passenger vehicle/public transportation and the operators for efficiency, safety and security as well as the sustainability of a reliable public transportation system.

  • Cab drivers must abide by new rules, says Opeifa

    Cab drivers must abide by new rules, says Opeifa

    All commercial cab drivers operating in colours outside the approved taxi codes of Lagos State have been ordered to stop it or risk prosecution.

    The Commissioner for Transportation Comrade Kayode Opeifa gave the order.

    He implored the Commissioner of Police Mr Umar Manko and other security operatives to help the government by arresting any commercial driver found violating the state’s traffic code.

    Condemning the activities of these cab drivers who operate with various vehicles, Opeifa said the approved colour for all commercial taxis and cabs operating in the state is yellow with black stripes, adding that offenders would face the music.

    According to him, no longer would anyone be permitted to use his car as a private in the morning and turn it into a cab at night or weekend, adding that anyone who is interested in being a transporter must comply with the state’s laws.

    Listing the dangers in cab operators’ practice, Opeifa said some of these operators have used the vehicles to perpetrate crime, adding that there is need for the state to capture the details of all operators in the sector.

    He said: “Gone are the days when all comers can come into the transportation business, especially as commercial drivers. If you want to use your vehicle as taxi, paint it in the approved colour and enlist on one of the approved routes. No longer would anyone be allowed to use any colour other than yellow as a taxi and I hereby urge the Commissioner of Police and other security operatives to help the state government to bring sanity by arresting all defaulters.”

    He also said it is unlawful for any cab driver to put the taxi tag on their vehicles without due permit, adding that anyone caught would be prosecuted.

    He said the government is planning to revolutionise the taxi operations in the state, adding that when the new system fully comes on stream, a taxi licence would have an enhanced value as the government intends to create a taxi licence exchange market where licence owners can go and trade their documents either for cash or for investments.

    “Our intention is to create something close to a commodities market even for taxi licences in this state and when it finally comes on stream, many of the operators who would own the licence could go to the market to either sell their licence or to source for investors who could put vehicles on those licences, while drivers and even young school leavers can go and scout for job as it is anticipated that there would be ready market that could create jobs and sustain those already in the business.”

    He said the government plans to come up with enough licences that would cover existing operators in the business, adding that the licences could be converted to residual income for old drivers from where they could earn their “retirement benefits” by just renting their licences or putting it on lease for investors to make use of in providing modern taxis on the road.

    He said these plans are part of the ways the government intends to return taxis to its pride of place in the state, adding that the state would soon begin to experience the new initiative.

    Another innovation, he said, is that all taxis would operate the metering system, adding that the government would moderate the charges by ensuring that operators are supplied calibrated meters by the government.

     

  • Lagos insists on special grant to cope with transportation needs

    Lagos insists on special grant to cope with transportation needs

    The Lagos State Government yesterday demanded from Federal Government a special transport system grant to enable it meet the challenges of transportation.

    Commissioner for Transportation Comrade Kayode Opeifa, who spoke at the opening of the technical session of the 13th National Council on Transport at the City Hall in Lagos, said the government should provide yearly special transportation and transport systems grant to states with population of over five million and vehicular density above 50 vehicles per kilometre of road length.

    Opeifa also pushed for the declaration of emergency on all roads and rail system networks in the country to facilitate the development of multimodal infrastructure to meet the country’s mass transit.

    In a paper titled: “Transformation in transport infrastructure: Catalyst for socio-economic development”, Opeifa said since transportation encompassed the management of the process of free flow of goods, services, people, and products, the definition of multi-modal system must change from merely identifying rail, road, sea (maritime) and air to include pipeline systems, logistics management and supply chain management.

    He said as the demand for transportation services increased, so must the transport infrastructure to match the pace.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transport, Mr. Nebolisa Emordi, expressed the hope that the meeting would develop a concrete master plan for the development of a transportation infrastructure to boost the economy.

    The meeting, he said, would afford members the opportunity to review the implementation of the resolutions adopted at its last meeting in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

    The Conference of Commissioners of Transportation and allied ministries will begin tomorrow. It will be opened by Governor Babatunde Fashola; the Minister for Transport,Senator Idris Umar, will chair the session.