File: Gridlock
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
No amount of innovations introduced can practically solve the myriads of gridlock across Lagos metropolis, unless basic factors are into force.
File: Gridlock as tankers shut down Apapa road.
This was the submission of experts at the 4th Lagos Traffic Radio Lecture Series, with the theme: “Lagos Beyond Roads: The Intermodal Option”, held at Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, weekend.
Former Minister of Power, Works and Housing, and former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, Senator Olurunnibe Mamora, Managing Director, National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA and Air Vice Marshal Sikiri Smith, (retd), urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state to prioritise and explore opportunities in the intermodal transportation in tackling the menace of road traffic in the state.
Police swoop on cultists during change of baton(Opens in a new browser tab)
Fashola who was the special guest of honour and lead speaker, said in proffering solutions to the transportation situation in the city, the governor, who was represented at the event by his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, should focus on the completion of the ongoing blue rail project in the state, which he described as the first city-owned project in the world without federal government intervention.
The former minister, noted that prioritising execution of state projects would always be in competition for funding and project implementation across board.
According to him, “The first recommendation I will make is one that urges the prioritization of the completion of the light rail project. There are many lessons that will benefit us as we engage the six other lines that will ultimately ensure rail connectivity for all divisions of Lagos.
“There is already a coach that carries 1,200 passengers that was fully paid for since 2015 in the custody of manufacturers. This can form the basis of test running the existing 7 km track now that the state government has also returned to completing its own section of the Eric Moore – Badagry Road and the Federal Government has taken action to complement the state work on the road.
“I am mindful that the federal government is also committed to her own rail initiatives and that resources are scarce. Nevertheless, from Mumbai to Dubai to Washington DC, all the inter-city rail projects have massive if not total federal government support.
“The Lagos intra-city Rail Project (and those of any other state) require and will benefit from some federal government muscle to see them to conclusion and operation.”
Complete the Ferry Terminal;
“Another recommendation is to urge the prioritization of the completion of the Ferry Terminals and urgent deployment to use. In addition, this should be complemented by an open process for licensing ferry operators in the way buses and taxis are licensed to operate on roads.
“In the spirit of federation, one of the laws that President Muhammadu Buhari recently refused to assent to was one that had the capacity to affect the power of states to license water transport vehicles and terminals.
“Until the rail is completed and fully operational, the road network will be the biggest carrier in intermodal transport linkage. Therefore, urgent road repairs, patching and maintenance is recommended as a priority for government.
“This will resuscitate the full operationalization of our asphalt/bitumen production facilities at Imota, Badagry and Ojodu/Isheri. The spin-off of quarrying work to supply aggregates, transportation and labour will be beneficial to the State in terms of employment.
“The BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) scheme must be expanded not only by building other routes to other parts of the state, to complement Ikorodu and Lagos Island, the route franchising system started by LAGBUS in 2013 must be revisited and improved upon. It provided operators with an opportunity to invest, buy their own buses, employ their own staff and operate Lagos routes under a public private partnership (PPP).
“My final contribution is to make two more recommendations for consideration which I consider exceptional to the achievement of improved modality and transport efficiency. The first is what I refuse to refer to as the central spine of Lagos Road traffic. Although I have spoken about road repairs and patching, government necessarily does not always have the resources to do everything at the same time.
“Therefore, choices and priorities must be made to do more with less, and give the greatest good to the greatest number. The patching and resurfacing of the central spine will give relief to many road commuters if made a priority.
NIWA boss, Mamora, in his remarks, said that 9. 0 per cent of mishaps on waterways were due to non-compliance of Inland Waterways transportation codes by operators.
He also identified overloading and night navigation, among the major causes of waterways accidents.
The former speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly who lamented rise in the waterways mishaps, cautioned operators and other stakeholders against violating existing rules on waterways.
His words: “Against the existing rules that water way navigation should stop at 9.00p.m, many boat operators violated the rules for their own selfish end, navigating beyond prohibited period such as 11.00p.m.
He added: “Just as we have at the parks, some of the operators are also on drugs, it happens even on the waterways. Another major cause of accidents is non putting on life jacket by passengers, which could have saved them in case of eventuality.”
He therefore, appealed to relevant agencies of governments in the country to enforce rules to ensure compliance.
The NIWA boss also expressed the willingness of his agency to go into, partnership with state government, particularly in the area of enforcement in order to ensure safety and encourage waterways transportation to decongest the roads.
Smith, advocated the development of other intra modal transport system such as waterways, rail lines, and air to complement and reduce the high pressure on road transportation in the state.
Lagos-Ibadan rail will be ready in June, says Amaechi(Opens in a new browser tab)
In his address Sanwo-Olu, who was the host, said the water transportation sector would receive a lot of attention from his administration.
He said within the last few weeks, he had promising discussions with various groups of investors who have expressed their intention to invest in the transport sector especially the water transport sub-sector.
He noted that the water transport sector is grossly underutilised in terms of harnessing its economic potentials.
“The current traffic situation indicates that 95 per cent of transportation is done by road in our state of over 22 million people with about 25 per cent of the land mass consisting of waterways. The essence therefore is to reduce the number of cars on the road and provide alternative options which are rail and water ways transportation, which will be efficient and safe for Lagosians and those that choose to visit our state.”
Disclaimer
Comments expressed here do not reflect the opinions of Vanguard newspapers or any employee thereof.