allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Mixed Reactions Over BRT (Page 1 of 2)

TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE writes on the reactions of Lagosians over the newly introduced Bus Rapid Transport system (BRT).

The Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority(LAMATA) Dr. Dayo Mobereola is visibly excited about the Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) scheme in Lagos and has been going round speaking effusively on how the project will convey 7,000 commuters on a particular direction every hour.This is amid criticisms that have trailed the system even before its inception.

Launching the scheme, which is the first of its kind in the country and initiated by the administration of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, immediate past governor of the state, the incumbent governor, Raji Babatunde Fashola expressed his administrations determination to address the perennial problem associated with traffic in the state.

Fashola believes that by the eventual flag -off of the scheme considered as landmark achievement of his administration, Lagos residents and visitors , would heave a sigh of relief from the frustrating traffic congestion in the metropolis.

He noted that for government to achieve free flow of traffic, it had to work out some modalities that will serve as guide for the operational working for the scheme, with priority giving to the BRT buses at the expense of other vehicles irrespective of their owner's status in the society.

Many of these rules and regulations have generated ripples across the state, with numerous people criticising the project in its entirety.

Musa Mohammed, a Lagos - legal practitioner, told Daily Champion that by his personal estimate,the ratio of BRT buses to other vehicles is about 50,000 to 1, and as such,it is irrational reserving half of the road to those buses and subjecting the rest of the road users to perennial traffic hold - up.

The carving out of substantial portion of the ever-busy exressways such as Ikorodu road for only a few BRT buses, leaving hundreds of thousands of other vehicles to their fate was vehemently condenmed by Barrister Musa and many others.

The argument is that the entire Ikorodu prior to the demarcation was considered not big enough for the ever-increasing number of vehicles plying the route and now that the road has further been narrowed, the development would do far more harm than good, in other words, while the BRT lanes are under-utilised because of the few vehicles designated for them, there is excessive pressure on the remaining part of the road.

"Our experience since the commencement of the scheme has shown that traffic the situation has aggravated on the expressway worse than what it used to be before the launch", said Mr. Johnson Aderemi, a civil servant with the Lagos State government who works in the Island

According to him, many commuters from Mile 12 to Ketu and Ojota have been experiencing frustration arising from traffic gridlock on the road.

He noted however that the long queue of commuters at BRT bus stops is an indication that people are taking the scheme very seriously and giving it good patronage.

"Sometimes they stay on the quene for a time before their vehicles will eventually leave for the journey.There are occassions when it is more faster to travel with conventional buses such as molue and danfo, than the BRT vehicles", said Aderemi.

Daily Champion, who took a ride from Mile 12 to Oshodi,noted that the journey, which ordinarily would have taken about one hour,lasted two hours, 27 minutes.

The major reason was that motorists who were going on long distance were forced to struggle alongside those shuttling short distance, and who were disembarking and picking passengers almost at every bus stop as well as the service lanes.

The roads at Ketu linking Lagos- Ibadan or Ojota- Oworonsoki expressway have been another serious problem facing motorists as they spend much time before they 're able to connect these roads.The same thing is applicable at Anthony bus stop for those who want to connect Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

A cross section of motorists who spoke to Daily Champion on the BRT scheme took a swipe at the project describing it as ill conceived. They are mainly worried that the N50,000 fine imposed on drivers of vehicles that encroach on BRT lanes.

The various transport unions in the state do not hide their grudge against the N50,000 fine and have openly protested against it. The National union of Road Transport Workers(NURTW), the most popular transport union with the highest number of members vehemently condemned the N50,000 fines, describing it as obnoxious and unacceptable.

The sole administration of the Lagos chapter of the union, Comrade Stephen's Fatusi told Daily Champion that imposing such huge amount as fine over a mere traffic offence such as encroachment on BRT lanes, is totally unacceptable.

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