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.