The Lagos BRT Scheme

After months of delay, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State finally launched the much awaited Bus Rapid Transit system that is meant to reduce the long intractable problem of traffic congestion in Lagos. Lagos like any other mega city must necessarily suffer from problems associated with transportation, but over the years the successive administrations in the state with the exception of that of Jakande and lately Tinubu, have failed to deal with it.
Initiated by the Bola Tinubu Administration with the assistance of the World Bank and successfully completed by Fashola's Government, the BRT is one of the three-pronged attacks the state has unleashed against the urban traffic congestion. The two others are the light rail and water transportation projects which are yet to fully commence. Regulated by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) an agency created for the purpose, 126 high capacity buses have been provided to ply the designated BRT routes. The buses are classified into two groups: the Red and Blue buses. While the Red buses which are operated by Lagos Asset Investment Limited run direct non-stop trips from Mile 12 to CMS; the Blue buses under the operation of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), also running the Mile 12 to CMS axis will stop for about four minutes at every stop until they get to the final destination. About 26 decent shelters have also been provided for commuters along the routes. An estimated 7000 passengers are expected to be transited per direction every hour. The passengers are expected to have a smooth ride and arrive at the other end in less than one hour for a journey that ordinarily takes two and half hours or more on the regular rickety molue or danfo buses.
With the launch of the scheme, Lagos has now joined such modern and mega cities as Mexico City, San Francisco, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, Kuala Lumpur, Curitiba, Caracas, Prague, which have sought successfully to combat the hydraheaded problem of traffic congestion that nearly destroyed the cities economic productivities. It is our view that the Lagos initiative is in line with that modern solution.
Properly managed, the BRT scheme is capable of reducing the Lagos traffic menace significantly as more people will not only be transported across during business hours, but also capable of reducing the number of vehicles on the road with their attendant environmental pollution as more car owners may be encouraged to use the buses thus saving themselves of the stress of wading through Lagos traffic snarls. We commend Governor Fashola and his predecessor for such a wonderful initiative and for moving Lagos into the real twenty-first century. Yet this is by no means the only solution. Given the Lagos heavy population the BRT scheme will only be efficient and sustainable if it is quickly complemented by the promised light rail system and water transportation scheme. Work on these must be accelerated and funds mobilised immediately. It is only when this is done that Lagos can be said to have a real urban mass transit system. Equally, we must commend the government for integrating the old but unruly NURTW that had run the Lagos dirty transportation system for ages. Had they been sidelined, that would have created another chaos and social problems for the state. However, we hope its members would be properly trained to adjust to the challenge and discipline of the more modern BRT scheme.
Much as the Lagos State Government deserves to be supported there are still serious concerns which critics have raised in the execution of the scheme which can not be ignored. The first is the reduction of the lanes instead of expansion of such major highways as Ikorodu road and Western Avenue to accommodate the scheme. This in itself is one of the major causes of the recent traffic congestion in Lagos. As if that was not enough, the resurfacing of some of the lanes were not only amateurish but scandalously of low quality and unbecoming of the standard already set by same government at Awolowo, Oregun, Lawanson - Yaba, Adeola Odeku, Agege motor roads and the on-going Boudillion in Ikoyi road project. This must be corrected immediately in view of the coming raining season and their likelihood of causing accidents. We are equally worried about the enforcement required for the scheme. How the government will be able to tame notorious law breakers such as soldiers, policemen, bullion van drivers, commercial danfo and molue drivers, official vehicle drivers will pose a serious challenge to the scheme. We hope the traffic management authorities are up to the task in implementing Fashola's promise that "anyone who flouts the rules governing the BRT corridor, no matter his or status will face the wrath of the law." This is crucial, because starting a new scheme is one thing, sustaining it is another. The next few months will show how well prepared the government is in conforming with these challenges