The Lagos State government, on Monday, rolled out 65 high capacity buses, in addition to the existing ones, as part of palliative measures following the restriction of commercial motorcycles and tricycles in some parts of the state.
During an interactive session with Government House correspondents, Mr Idowu Oguntona, the Managing Director, Lagos Bus Services Limited (LBSL), said that the 65 buses were expected to serve 35,000 passengers daily.
Oguntona said that the buses, which started work on Monday, recorded about 10,000 customers in the early hours of the day.
”We are here today to witness the official deployment of additional 65 buses into the bus service to basically ease the pressure that may be experienced on Lagos roads.
”We have Oshodi-Ajah, Inner Marina-Ajah, Obalende-Ajah and CMS-Ajah, while addressing the challenge in Ikeja. We also have Ikeja-Ojota, Ikeja-Ogba, Berger-Ojota routes.
”Those are the seven routes that the 65 buses will be deployed to and the impact will be such that, at least, 35,000 Lagosians will be in a very efficient, safe manner across the metropolis,” he said.
Speaking on the planned introduction of mini buses to ply the nooks and crannies of the state, Oguntona said that 550 medium capacity vehicles for feeder routes would be injected into the system as soon as possible.
”We recognise the fact that some of the buses cannot go on the feeder roads; so the plan is to inject 550 medium capacity buses that can carry about 30 people.
”Those mini buses will be deployed to the feeder roads; so there will be any significant impact,” he said.
