Lagos pledges better transport system

THE Lagos State government has pledged to redouble its effort to provide people within the metropolis integrated means of transportation.According to Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, the Lagos Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system was a novel and best choice for public transport.He added that other transport projects such as the expansion of the BRT to other parts of Lagos, construction of the light rail system and the expansion of the water routes from the current four, would be given priority.While commending the operators of the BRT, commuters and hundreds of motorists who complied with traffic rules, Fashola said the model must not be allowed to whittle down.He pledged to safeguard what he described as the enormous legacy in the state public transportation, promising to drive it to a newer frontier.Fashola spoke at the State House (Marina) while receiving both the African region and international awards for political commitment for growing and doubling patronage of public transportation by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).He said the pioneering role of the then Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration gave Lagos one of the best transportation systems in Africa.Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola, while presenting the two awards, said it was an acknowledgement of the governors vision for an integrated transport system in Lagos, adding that the development was comparable to any city in the world.A press statement issued by External Relations Specialist, Kolawole Ojelabi, said the vision aims at poverty alleviation, economic development, reduction in carbon-dioxide emission, increase in formal public transport fare and improved quality of life.Ojalabi added that five political leaders from cities in the United Kingdom, Spain, India and Bulgaria were short-listed along with Governor Fashola for the award given to winners at the end of the 59th Congress of the UITP.Mobereola described the award as recognition of his far-reaching public transport growth initiatives, which aims to cater for the mobility of the ordinary commuters in a state of more than 18 million people. 
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