Kazeem Ugbodaga
Cross section of the newly commissioned Bus Rapid Transit by Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, during the commissioning of Mile 12-Ikorodu BRT Extension and launching of new BRT, on Thursday, November 12, 2015.
Commuters along the Mile 12 to CMS Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor have commended the Lagos State Government for the courage exhibited in relocating the erstwhile operator, 1st BRT Cooperative of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lagos State Council to another corridor.
According to them, they had lost hope that the government was going to give them any respite from the arrogance of the operator who was only driven by profit motive.
Mr. Gordon Mojaye, a commuter who patronizes BRT said the Lagos State took the right step to instill confidence in commuters who had lost hope.
Mojaye said he stopped using the BRT about three years ago when its services began to dwindle but had to come out on Thursday to use the new service on hearing the government action.
He admonished the government to monitor the new operators to ensure that they do not breach the agreement signed with the regulatory agency, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).
Another commuter, Miss Maria Adeyanju advised government to put stringent measures in place to make sure that never would any transport operator ride roughshod on the people again.
She stressed the need for government to put measures in place to ensure that the interests of the commuters are protected always, adding that, the government has demonstrated that it is ‘pro people.’
The Lagos State Government last Thursday relocated the 1st BRT Cooperative from Mile 12 to CMS BRT system, citing constant breaches of the franchise agreement it signed in 2007.
The breach include non-operation of stipulated frequency schedules and operation of buses at below 50 per cent fleet capacity contrary to the agreement.
This has progressively resulted in the operator’s inability to meet commuters’ expectation to provide good public transport services on the all-important BRT corridor.
In a reaction to the plea to be given time to reorganise the operation by the operator, Miss Adeyanju said it was late in the day, saying she was sure that the government must have served it several warnings to reshape and reinvigorate its operations.
Commuters back LASG BRT agreement with NURTW
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