60, 000 commercial bus operators defy documentation – LASG print

By The Rainbow
60, 000 commercial bus operators defy documentation – LASG  print
60, 000 commercial bus operators defy documentation – LASG print

The Lagos State Government on Friday said about 60, 000 commercial bus operators in the state had defied the state's directives for certifications.

The State's Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa made the disclosure at the 2014 Ministerial Press Briefing by his ministry in Ikeja.

According to him, the state is working hard to reform its public transportation system.

He, however, listed the state's transportation system to include the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), LAGBUS, rail and water transportation, as well as the taxi system.

“So far, we have 23, 000 operators on our data base, we envisaged that we should have nothing less than 80, 000.

“We have opened up this portal since Nov. 1, 2013.

“Six months down the line, an exercise that should take us 60 days, has taken us six months, and our transport operators are yet to log on,” Opeifa said.

The commissioner said that the ministry was equally reforming the entire taxi policy to serve the teaming population of the state.

“Out of the expected 10, 000 taxi operators on Lagos roads, we have registered so far 8,600 and the governor will soon flag off the Lagos modern taxi system,” he said.

Opeifa added that applicants would no longer need a new taxi to register in the policy, but a taxi that is not older than five years at the point of entry.

“In the new policy, there are applications that you can call a taxi driver on our data base on your phone, and the taxi will be at the front of your door,” he said.

The commissioner urged commuters to desist from boarding taxies not painted yellow, for security purposes.

“We are calling on the Police, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), and other enforcement agents to go after these operators,” he said.

The commissioner expressed satisfaction over the improvement in the compliance of commercial drivers to traffic laws.

Opeifa called the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Road Transport Employers Association (RTEAN) and other associations, to check the excesses of their members.