The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, has urged Lagosians to embrace the state government’s Bus Industry Transition Program (BITP).
The BITP is an initiative aimed at creating a policy framework to restructure the existing bus industry and develop a new business model that incorporates existing bus operators and their routes into the eight future Quality Bus Corridors (QBCs).
This initiative is being carried out by the Lagos State Government through the Ministry of Transportation and the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) in collaboration with CPCS.
Speaking during a familiarization meeting with the Lagos State House of Assembly’s Committee on Transportation, headed by Hon. Adewale Temitope Adedeji OON, the commissioner said that the initiative will curb the madness associated with the infamous yellow buses.
He said, “The BITP is something that Lagosians should embrace. It is a three-year model plan whereby we are planning to migrate the informal sector and marry them to the formal sector. We all know the madness associated with our yellow buses.
“There’s a lot of collaboration with the involvement of all the stakeholders. A lot of work is ongoing. Presently, there is data gathering to ensure that we know the routes that are being taken and the number of commuters.
“We are involving the transport unions to reassure them that we are not yanking off whatever it is that they are doing. We are only formalizing the sector in such a way that we will have an efficient transportation system and build the kind of Mega City that we crave for.
“All of these things that we are saying are a three-year plan and we are currently running through the model in phases. It is something Lagosians will enjoy and we will be proud of at the end of the day.
“Therefore, it involves a lot of stakeholder engagements to be able to explain, especially what we are planning to do to the transport unions, so that at least, they will be in the know of what we are trying to do. It will come out well, and I can assure you that by the time we are done, the kind of Mega City that we pray for will come to play.
Speaking on the roles the House of Assembly could play in aiding the activities of the Transport Ministry, Osiyemi said the functions of the House cannot be overemphasized, adding that its support is needed to get the ministry to move forward.
“The legislature, of course, has lots of roles to play in what we do because they are the ones that coordinate and assist in the areas of forming policies and rules and in situations when we need to get our budget, planning, and funding right.
“They also assist in areas of PPP. We all understand that we need a lot of money to sort out infrastructure and all. We collaborate with the private sector in the PPP arrangement. And of course, we need the House to ratify all of these things.
“Therefore, the functions of the House cannot be overemphasized. We need their support to get the ministry to where we intend to get it to,” he averred.
