BRT: RETHINKING THE LAGOS JAM

BRT: RETHINKING THE LAGOS JAM

On March 17, 2010 it will be two years since the Lagos State Government unveiled the Bus Rapid Transit Scheme (BRT) with considerable success recorded thus far. It is therefore appropriate at this point in time to take a second look at the perpetual Lagos traffic chaos/gridlock.

Lagos is a mega city no doubt and one of the fastest growing around the world, but the problem of Lagos is the problem of every mega city in the world. The difference is that mega cities in the first world have through planning and discipline surmounted most of the challenges they face in urban transportation and traffic management. If traffic management and control were impossible, as the Lagos scenario seems to suggest, then New York State would be the most chaotic place in the world. All the cars in Nigeria put together is not even up to the number of cars in New York City alone, yet except for occasional moments in down town New York, traffic flows. London, Berlin and such other great cities are not much different from New York in this respect. Apart from Berlin and some other German cities which has large thoroughfares built by Adolf Hitler in the 1930’s to facilitate the easy and fast movement of man and machinery in preparation for war, other world cities have roads approximately the size of Lagos roads, Lagos roads are the same size as those of London, infact the Lagos inner city roads were modeled after that of the city of London. Contrast this with the chaos of Lagos, Mexico City in Mexico and Harare in Zimbabwe, then you will begin to appreciate what those nations that value time and man hours have done even in the face of daunting challenges.

The Lagos situation is particularly disgusting, everything thrown at it, every measure taken to curb it has ultimately fallen short. When the Government of Alhaji Lateef Jakande proposed the metro line in the 1980’s, the situation was not even this grave but that did not see the light of day though. The Federal and State Governments built bridges but bridges do not last forever – a case in point is the dilapidated and overstretched third mainland bridge, the federal capital and ministries/parastatals were moved out of Lagos to decongest the city yet nothing changed. There is no place in Lagos today where one can escape the population pressure, new areas opened up in Lagos less than 5 years ago are now reeling under the impact of overpopulation, too many people come into Lagos everyday and no one leaves – what baffles me is that over 40% of these people live in poverty and are unemployed.

Nigerians do not understand the implications and what we lose in and to the Lagos traffic jam. Consider that we spend an average of 4 to 6 hours in traffic snarls around the city every day. What does that translate to in terms of man hours lost; time wasted viz a viz economic growth and development. What are the health implications, why do we wonder when workers suddenly slump and die? The statistics are grim; six hours everyday in the Lagos traffic with the attendant inconveniences for 20 years is enough to send anyone to an early grave.

The major cause of the Lagos jam, though hard to believe is mere indiscipline, amongst others. Quite apart from the fact that the infrastructure in Lagos will barely support a population of 5 million and that the number of people who now struggle for space in Lagos is conservatively put at over 15 million, if only we are a bit more disciplined, the situation will be much more manageable. Take for instance, the rise and rise of area boys who collect tolls on all roads imaginable, holding up traffic with sundry violent conduct. If only it were quantifiable, the illegal toll taken on Lagos roads annually will run into billions of naira. The average cab or bus driver is a menace on Lagos roads; he will drive against traffic, overtake recklessly, run the speed limit and never allow others the right of way. The bus conductor is as rude and irresponsible as the driver and God save other commuters on a day he meets another equally irresponsible passenger and either an argument or a fight ensues.

The private car owner is not any different on Lagos roads. He curses and holds up others at the slightest provocation. He will obstruct traffic for several minutes and even hours if you are unlucky to dent or scratch his ‘tokunboh’ car which could be anything from third hand you know even though for all he cares, he was the one at fault. He will block access roads in a bid to avoid a gridlock on the major highways in the belief that movement, any movement is better than a standstill even though most of these so called short cuts end up taking longer to traverse.

The advent of the BRT is a welcome development if it works but if it does not, we will find ourselves in even more dire straits. However, there are other simple actions we may take to address the deteriorating traffic situation in Lagos. One, we could and as a matter of urgency start a process to redirect the flow of traffic by identifying what people need and why they go long distances every day to get them. For example, most people who work on the island live on the mainland, why can’t they stay and work on the mainland if most things were right. It is not every one that heads to Lagos, Victoria Island and Ikoyi every morning who wants such a tiring routine but most times they are forced to. Many who live on the mainland will gladly own and operate their businesses around where they live, if only a fraction of the facilities in highbrow Victoria Island were in such places.

Many people have suggested ways out of this by building industrial parks and self contained cities. All this is good but whither the capital and the political will? If the woman who lives in Ikeja is sure of getting all the jewelleries and lace materials she needs from such a commercial acreage in close by Egbeda, then the incentive to head for Idumota in Lagos is removed. We could also encourage people to work from home if we are able to solve our power and energy problem. For most professionals especially the self employed, there is actually no need to live in Ikorodu and own an office in Victoria Island when with the aid of technology you can actually stay at home these days, do your work and only go out to deliver at auspicious times.

If however, we must continue our excruciating daily pilgrimage to Lagos Island, we must begin to explore another work ethic that makes the city of New York unique. New York City did not earn the sobriquet “the city that never sleeps” for nothing. Many New Yorkers work alternate hours. The way it works is simple, some people work during the day while others work at night using the same offices and the same facilities, all the worker need do is to attune himself to his work time and sleep time such that for the man who works at night, the day becomes his night and this can be reversed after a number of weeks and vice versa. This simply means that instead of having a Million cars snaking into the island every morning and at the close of business everyday and a handful moving in the opposite direction, there will be some balance and about half or even less than half of that number of cars will have to be on the road at any particular rush hour. Imagine how much this will ease the traffic situation in Lagos.

The Government could also make a mandatory toll payable for any private car that travel to designated areas with less than four persons when they could take advantage of the multi million dollar BRT project of the state government and save themselves and others the stress of hold up.

If all these are in place and the Government does nothing in terms of infrastructure, then the purpose will again soon be defeated as it is projected that the population of Lagos will continue to grow in geometric proportions and that in a few years close to 30 Million people will live in Lagos. What is it with the Fourth Mainland Bridge that nobody seems to know what is happening with respect to building it? If the Lagos traffic chaos must be solved any time soon, then the fourth mainland bridge must be built and existing ones rehabilitated and maintained.

In this, the federal government must lend the Lagos state government a helping hand. All the federal roads in Lagos should be rehabilitated and new ones built as trunk A roads are very expensive to build and maintain. It is a thing of joy that the present administration both at the state and national level are co – operating and working together to solve the myriad problems of Lagos state. For these, they deserve commendation and we hope that Lagosians will begin to reap the fruits of their co-operation soon.

Finally, all hands must be on deck, the necessary enlightenment should be done; Lagosians must know why and be willing to park their cars at home during the week days and use the BRT as it is done in saner climes around the world. It saves them the stress of driving, time wasted in traffic, energy expended in driving, money as they would not have to burn fuel. It saves their cars for the weekends and above all, it saves their lives.

STEPHEN O. OBAJAJA is a Partner at the Lagos Law Firm of Fountain Court Partners.