Published 1/11/2009 1:33:00
Yearning for additional BRT services
CHARLES ABAH
For now, we have to realise that we only have BRT on one corridor. And I tell you, the BRT will not touch every part of Lagos because there are going to be other modes of transportation that will be put in place.
”For instance, from Agbado to Marina, we plan a rail system that we believe will be operational by 2011. It is projected to carry about 1.3 million passengers per day. The other one from Okokomaiko to CMS is projected to carry a little over 300,000 passengers per day.
”You see, we are talking about a system that will move 1.6 million passengers per day. So by the time we have this, do we then really need a BRT system there? Of course, no.”
The remarks above came from no less a personality than the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority External Relations Specialist, Mr. Kolawale Ojelabi, while trying to explain why the Bus Rapid Transit scheme will not get to every nook and cranny of the state, at least, for now.
In stating this, he made no pretence about it, just as there was no mounting feeling of fear in his voice. He buttressed this not only offhandedly, but with a touch of finality and a measure of precision.
It will be recalled that a survey conducted late in 2008 by some postgraduate diploma students of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos under the superintendence of Prof. Idowu Sobowale and published in SUNDAY PUNCH last week, had disclosed that the majority of Lagosians were yet to feel the impact of the BRT scheme.
According to the survey conducted in five local government areas of the state and which involved 837 respondents, only 21.9 per cent of the residents of the councils were covered in the scheme, a development that leaves 78.1 per cent others out of the BRT services.
It added that the 66.9 per cent of the respondents said the scheme did not cover their places of work, while the remaining 33.1 per cent said it did.
Reacting to this development, Ojelabi who notes that the scheme is so far limited from Mile 12 to CMS, explains that this does not in any way diminish its huge benefits to the inhabitants of the state.
”I can tell you that on a daily basis, there are more than 200,000 persons using the BRT system from Mile 12 to CMS. Our initial projection was that the BRT will carry 60,000 passengers per day, but today we are carrying 215,000 passengers,” he states with an air of certainty.
The fact that there is this increased patronage, he says, is a justification that the scheme has been embraced by Lagosians.
He explains that the BRT service has come to the rescue of many Lagos commuters, rendering wonderful service and saving them a great deal of time and money.
”When you look at the BRT operation itself, it is not one where fares are just raised arbitrarily. Since we started operations on March 17, 2008, we have not increased fares for once and this has made commuters enjoy our services the more,” he says.
On plans of extending the scheme to other parts of the state so that more persons will benefit from it, Ojelabi says that the infrastructural layout for it is enormous, declaring that it cost about N5bn to just improve on the Mile 12 to CMS route alone.
”Remember the road already had infrastructure. What we only did was to improve on it. So you can imagine where you have to build infrastructure all over again. That, however, is not to say that we shall not extend it to other corridors. So far the governor has approved it to be extended to Ikorodu town,” he discloses.
Ojelabi‘s argument notwithstanding, many commuters, especially those who reside in Alimosho, Oshodi-Isolo, Badagry, Ikorodu, Epe and Ifako-Ijaiye to mention but a few, think of the BRT services as a fairy tale told to the Marines. Indeed, they have every reason to think this way, recognising that for almost one year since the scheme was inaugurated in the state, they are yet to benefit from it.
According to them, the huge public transportation predicament being experienced in the state is not limited to the Mile 12/CMS route and therefore the initiative should be extended to other areas so as to make it more successful and comprehensive.
Specifically, a businessman, Mr Christian Anyiam, who resides at Ikotun on the outskirts of Lagos, says he is yet to feel the impact of BRT.
Agreed, the BRT has no route at least for now in Ikotun, the state government, he says should think of bringing the initiative to the council in order to alleviate the suffering of the residents.
Mrs. Bosede Bucknor similarly supports the idea of extending the service to other parts of the city, saying that it will enable more residents to benefit from the exercise.
”I spend an average of N400 from my Isolo residence to Apapa every day, but I believe that a spread of the scheme will make many more people to reap the benefit,” she says.
Interestingly, even as these sundry arguments go on, a visit to some of the BRT shelters indicates a beehive of activities. At some of the shelters, including the ones on the Ikorodu Road route, SUNDAY PUNCH observes that many commuters have come to embrace the initiative. For them, the BRT has become the way out of their transportation problem.
According to Miss Bimbo Jegede, a student of Yaba College of Technology, the scheme has made life a lot easier for her.
Jegede, a Higher National Diploma student of the college, while speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH notes that apart from saving some money courtesy of the BRT, she no longer worries about the arbitrary hike by commercial buses, just as she is not bothered again of their molestation and the likelihood of running into ‘one chance’ operators.
“While I was doing my Ordinary National Diploma, I had been a victim of bus thieves and ‘one chance’ operators several times. But since the coming of BRT on this route, things have really changed and changed for good for so many of us,” Jegede says.
”Again, I have never had cause to think of increased transport fare, whether it is in peak period or not,” an excited Jegede remarks.
Another commuter and banker, who speaks glowingly about the BRT, says since the advent of the scheme, he spends only N4,000 to and from his place of work against N55,000 before now.
”BRT has reduced transport cost for me. It has put more money in my purse and I can use this excess for some other things. Prior to the launch of the scheme, I had a driver who I paid N35,000 monthly and I was buying N5,000 fuel every week. This implies that I spent N55,000 every month on transportation. But today, it is no more. What I did was to empower the driver in another way and now I spend an average of N4,000 every month. So in terms of putting more money in my pocket, that has been achieved and I give kudos to BRT,” the banker, who does not want his name in print, explains.
For the banker, therefore, there is no contesting the significant role of the BRT. His biggest concern now is that more buses be put on the route, especially during the peak hours.
On this request, Ojelabi says that ”LAMATA is not the owners of these buses. What LAMATA has done as a public entity is to put the infrastructure and regulate the services. We have a co-operative of National Union of Road Transport Workers, who are the owners of the buses,” he says.
He, nonetheless, cautions that if more buses are put on the dedicated lanes, there will be congestion and the purpose of the rapidity will be lost.
“What we have now is the BRT lite. It is not the full BRT. With full BRT, we will have two lanes on either side. So there is a limit to which you can put more buses on the road. But what we normally do is that we have monitors at every bus shelter. If there are too many people at the shelter, the monitor will inform the operational base to send more buses to these shelters,” he says.
The LAMATA official, who declares that all hope is not lost for other Lagos residents, cites the Iyana-Ipaja/Ikotun pilot bus franchise scheme, saying the initiative is to open up other routes so as to alleviate the suffering of the masses.
“The project construction is going on now. Maybe by April/May, the operation will start. So it is another project that will relieve commuters around that corridor and it is being projected that some time later this year, this particular bus scheme will take passengers as far as Maryland, so that those going to Lagos can link the BRT at that point,” he concludes.
