Most BRT buses old, need replacement – Sanwo-Olu

BTS MEDIA 

December 9,2018 

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has highlighted the need for new buses for the state Bus Rapid Transit.

Sanwo-Olu, who spoke in a series of tweets via his official Twitter account, @jidesanwoolu, on Sunday, was responding to questions from Lagos residents on how to improve transportation in the state.

When asked about his plans for the state BRT, the APC candidate said, “Our plan is to keep them running and improve on the BRT infrastructure and road furniture. Most of the buses are old and need replacements or adequate maintenance, we will work with the franchise owners to bring in new buses to serve the routes.”

Speaking on the opportunities created by the e-taxi-hailing industry, Sanwo-Olu noted that a thorough review was necessary, as stakeholders were being engaged.

He said, “The e-hailing industry is a fast growing pillar of the transportation industry. It definitely needs to be holistically reviewed. Multi-stakeholder engagements are already in the works to help us understand how to effectively leverage the pros and prune the cons.”

When asked about his plans to address the traffic congestion resulting from Apapa-bound trailers and tankers Sanwo-Olu said the problem of the tanker drivers parking on bridges required a solution with the Federal Government.

According to him, the Federal Government is fixing the road and bridge in Apapa.

He added, “The reconstruction of the Apapa-Oshodi-Isolo-Oworonsoki (expressway) up to Toll Gate at Alausa is underway. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing about three weeks ago flagged off the project.

“The second-level solution is what the state government is working on with the Federal Government and that is building a trailer park that can take 5,000 trailers.”

Sanwo-Olu added that the park would have all the amenities that would make life convenient for the drivers.

“We will also work with the (Nigerian) Ports Authority to have a call-up system where trailers will only be called when the containers they want to take are ready.

“What they would do is move in, pick up their goods and leave. The same would also apply to tankers that load petroleum products. There is a concentration of depots in Apapa. One of the medium and long-term solutions will be to decongest that corridor,” he added.

Speaking on the rail projects under construction, the APC candidate described them as crucial to the party’s development plan for the state.

He said, “I drove through the Iyana-Iba corridor last week and I admit a lot needs to be done on the route to ease the challenges. The Orile-Mile 2-Badagry expressway project needs to be accelerated and it’s a front burner topic.

“The Blue Line rail project from Okokomaiko-CMS is nearing completion. We will work to complete it and get the rolling stock to make it operational ASAP. There is also a robust plan for the Red Line rail project from Agbado-CMS.

“The rail transportation system is crucial to us. Accelerating its development whilst leveraging even better the existing infrastructure is one of our focal points to address the transportation challenges we face.”

The governorship candidate promised to strengthen the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency and focus on major traffic-laden areas in the state such as Ajah.