The managing director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Abimbola Akinajo, says more than 75,000 commercial buses, also known as ‘Danfo’, ply Lagos roads.

Mrs Akinajo also said that Lagos required high capacity buses for mass transport.

She delivered the second edition of the Endowed Professional Chair of Transport Studies Lecture at the Lagos State University (LASU).

The lecture was organised by LASU’s School of Transport and Logistics.

It had the theme: “Transport Infrastructure Delivery and Sustainable Development of Lagos State: LAMATA Experience”.

Mrs Akinajo said: “We are a gas producer, so it makes sense for us to utilise our gas.

“When I travel and they talk about e-buses being the only way for sustainability, I disagree.

“This is not because it is not a fact, but because it may not be the way for every city.

“I live in a world where I feel that, for us to begin to see sustainability, we need to go mass transportation.

“Today, we have over 75,000 ‘danfos’. The vision must be that we begin to look at going mass,” she said.

She said that it implied that a high capacity bus would be replacing about five commercial buses. 

“That means we have railways, we have high-capacity buses,” she said.

She said that LAMATA was talking with transport unions in the state to ensure that both parties would work together.

“We are  in serious conversations with the National Union of Road Transport Workers and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria.

“We are not replacing them. They are a core part of the transportation industry of Lagos State.

“They have  years of experience which we acknowledge, and they work with us on some of our BRT routes today, but it is important they recognise that change is coming.

“I must acknowledge that the two unions have been very cooperative in the conversations we are having,” she said.

The managing director said that the state had been on its bus industry transition programme for the past 18 months.

She noted that the programme was designed to be for three years.

“The vision is: we begin to roll out high capacity buses which they will be part of.

“We must identify ways we need to phase out what we have into what we want to have; hence, the conversations we are having,” she said.

She added that universities are the academic and technical partners in the programme.

Earlier,  the Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, said that Lagos State had made giant strides in transport, adding that LAMATA stood as a pillar of that progress.

Mr Olatunji-Bello was represented by the deputy vice chancellor (Academic), Taiwo Afisi.

“I am most delighted because this lecture marks yet another milestone for the university, as the School of Transport and Logistics brings the town to meet the gown.

“The topic for discussion is central to urban development and prosperity in Lagos State in particular and Nigeria in general,” she said.

She said that the multimodal transport system, increased capacity and improved connectivity were becoming realities for millions of residents in the state.

She said that LASU was proud to be a partner in the transformation.

“At the heart of this partnership is the LASU School of Transport and Logistics, the first of its kind in West Africa, dedicated to training transport professionals,  advancing research and driving transport policy innovation.” 

(NAN)