28th February, 2017
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Lagos State Government said on Tuesday that buses with Close Circuit Television, CCTV will now replace yellow buses in the state, saying that government is not taking jobs out of the hands of commercial bus drivers.
This is coming as the state government planned to build several bus terminals across the state to meet the demand of transportation in the metropolis.
Acting Commissioner for Transportation, Prince Anofiu Elegushi disclosed this at a Stakeholder’s meeting on the upgrading/utilisation of the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Bus Terminal on Lagos Island, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
According to Elegushi, what government wanted to do was to re-fleet the transportation system with new buses, as most of the yellow commercial buses were not roadworthy having been in use for the past 20 years.
“On the yellow buses, what we are planning is to re-fleet with new buses. As you will agree most of the yellow buses are not road worthy. Most of them have been running for over 20 years. So, it is not convenient anymore for passengers.
“So, what we are trying to do is to take them up and bring other new buses that will have CCTV, charging points to charge phones and a lot of facilities and many other other facilities. So, they are still going to be the drivers, we are not the driver.
“The essence of re-fleeting it is to get it right. We are working on the programme most especially on the financial model that we will use in transferring those vehicles to the operators. That is just what we are doing,” he said.
On the newly upgraded TBS Bus Terminal, Elegushi called for collaboration of stakeholders in the maintenance of the upgraded edifice, as government planned to replicate it in other parts of the state.
He said the project, is to mark excellence, as the state prepared to mark its 50th anniversary, adding that government was keen about changing the face of transportation and upgrade transport facilities.
The commissioner stated that the new terminal would accommodate its original operators, taxis, yellow buses, tricycles, as well as B. R.T, LAGBUS buses, with designated lanes, ticketing points, Intelligence Transport System guide for passengers, mini shops, stickers for identification, among others.
He appealed to transport unions and others to take care of the terminal, saying that “it is a kind of responsibility expected from the transport stakeholders especially transport union. We have delivered as promised but what we expect from them is to see a project well maintained so that there will be justification for what we spent.
“We are working on other terminals like Oyingbo, the drawing is almost ready; Yaba Terminal, the drawing of that is almost ready. We are also working on Anthony, the VIS garden; we are turning it to a bus terminal. The two petrol stations at Maryland, we are turning them to bus terminal very soon; those are parts of what we have in the pipeline. Very soon we will hit the ground running.”
Speaking, the Chairman, House Committee on Transportation, Fatai Adebola commended Governor Akinwumi Ambode for this initiative and urged the people to take ownership of the project.