Gboyega Akinsanmi
Three weeks after restricting LAGBUS Asset Management Limited from operating on Ikorodu-CMS bus rapid transit (BRT), the Lagos State Government has said it will extend its BRT service to the Oshodi-Abule-Egba corridor.
The state government has also sought the permission of the federal government to construct BRT corridor from Oshodi to Abule-Egba, saying it is part of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration to decongest gridlocks in the state.
The Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Mr. Abiodun Dabiri disclosed the plan at the first anniversary of Primero Transport Service Limited in Lagos.
After the construction of the six-lane Ikorodu-Mile 12 road that cost about N35 billion include maintenance cost, Primero Transport Service Limited won franchise to operate the BRT corridor.
Consequently, the state government directed LAGBUS Asset Management Limited, currently 18 bus operators (red buses) on different routes to stop using the dedicated Ikorodu-CMS BRT corridor, a decision that ignited public protest.
But Dabiri, who was represented by LAMATA’s External Relations Specialist, Mr. Kolawole Olabisi at the anniversary of Primero, said the state government would introduce the BRT services on Oshodi-Abule Egba corridor.
He said the state government had already approached the federal government on the plan to extend the BRT service “to Oshodi-Abule Egba corridor. We do not have any challenge with the federal government about the plan. We believe the federal government will grant our request very soon.”
Dabiri disclosed that the state government had great plan for the Oshodi-Abule Egba route, which he said, might require total overhaul of the road, saying the engineers “are working on the design.”
“The BRT lane will likely be in the middle. The road will be reconstructed and upgraded to allow free flow of vehicles. As designed, our plan to commence work before 2016 runs to an end. This is subject to approval by the federal government. But we do not have any challenge with the federal government,” he said.
