The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA, Consultant, Corporate Communication, Kolawole Ojelabi, who disclosed this, said the completion of the infrastructure is in fulfilment of the promise made by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu that the project would be completed in the last quarter of 2022, ahead of the commencement of passenger operations slated for the first quarter of 2023.

Ojelabi, explained that the Lagos Rail Mass Transit Blue Line is one of the six rail lines and monorail prescribed for Lagos in the state’s Strategic Transport Master Plan (STMP).

According to him, the LRMT Blue Line is a 27-kilometer rail system from Marina to Okokomaiko. Construction has been divided into phases for ease of implementation and is expected to move more than 500,000 passengers when the entire line is completed.

Recall that Sanwo-Olu had, during the campaign period for the office of the Governor, prior to 2019 guber polls, promised to complete the infrastructure for the first phase of the LRMT Blue Line and bring it to passenger operation.

“The first phase is a 13-kilometer stretch from Marina to Mile 2 and has five stations at Mile 2, Suru-Alaba, Orile Iganmu, National Theatre and Marina. It is expected to move about 200,000 passengers daily”, he added.

According to Ojelabi, the rail system would be powered by electricity from an independent power plant to be purposely built for its operation.

Similarly, the Managing Director of LAMATA, Engr. Abimbola Akinajo, stressed that “the completion of the infrastructure for the first phase of the LRMT Blue Line is a testimonial of the importance of public transportation to Governor Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES agenda.”

The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde disclosed this at the weekend while receiving the Director-General of NITT, who led other management staff on a courtesy visit to the Ministry.

Oladeinde adding that there is a need for the institute to partner with the State Government on the development of a more climate-friendly transport sector.

The Commissioner stated that the fundamental goal of the Lagos State transport policy is to develop an Integrated Multi-Modal Transport System that is safe, reliable, comfortable, efficient, environmentally friendly and affordable within the framework of a progressive and competitive market economy.

Stressing that transportation is seen as the engine of any economy and must therefore be resilient, the Commissioner reiterated that the transportation requirements of the State are driven by its Strategic Transport Master Plan prepared by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).

“As a Ministry, we have preserved the plan and ensured that policies supporting the Traffic Management and Transportation help deepen the Strategic Transport Master Plan implementation. As such, collaboration with NITT in developing evidence-based research using real data to drive the policy is a welcome idea”, Oladeinde affirmed.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation Engr. Abdulhafiz Toriola restated that reforming the transport sector is paramount to the present administration, saying the Government is investing in water and rail transport to reduce the number of private vehicles on the road and encourage people to embrace other means of transportation.

He mentioned that the State Government is also restructuring and repositioning its Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), adding that the Ministry will be willing to partner with NITT in the training of the Traffic Management Personnel on incident management to improve their efficiency.

Earlier, the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Dr. Bayero Salih Farah stated that the Institute has the statutory responsibility to professionalise the Nigerian transport sector through training and retraining of the workforce and also to conduct research that will inform policy direction and development.

He added that the Institute also operates and maintains a National Transport Databank and acts as Transport Intelligence Centre by deploying transport technology and innovation in all modes of transport in Nigeria.

Bayero said the Lagos State Government had once engaged the service of the Institute in training more than 500 LASTMA Personnel, adding that the Institute also consulted for Lagos State Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA) in a couple of surveys on transport development, urging the Commissioner to sustain the established cordial relationship between the Institute and the Ministry.

The Assistant Director, Corporate Communication, at the Lagos Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LAMATA), Mr. Kolawole Ojelabi, who disclosed this in a statement, announced that the increase takes effect from August 1.

According to the statement, Governor Sanwo-Olu gave his consent to the bus fare review following a plea by the bus operating company on the need to sustain its operation because of the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on public bus transportation.

The statement also revealed that the governor also approved LBSL’s request to increase the number of passengers per bus from 20 to 42 in observance of updated COVID-19 protocol.

Recall that the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 had directed that bus can only take 50% capacity of its usual trip in the operation of public transport in order to ensure social distancing and curb the spread of COVID-19.

Sanwo-Olu granted LBSL buses permission to access dedicated bus lanes in Lagos State, thus making their journey times predictable on corridors with bus dedicated lanes.

LBSL had argued that conveying not more than 20 passengers per bus, per trip, had resulted in only 14 per cent utilisation of the bus load factor, leading to 72 per cent drop in revenue, while the running costs remained fairly the same.

It said the fare increase would improve LBSL’s operational efficiency and place the bus operating company on the path to sustainability in the medium to long term.