Chokehold of Lagos Rush-Hour Traffic

Picture Credit: Google

By Grace N Okonkwo Ajagus

 Traffic congestion in the city of Lagos is one of the goriest experiences of Lagos residents. It is so terrible that many workers leave home as early as 5:00am or sometimes, earlier with the sole purpose of beating the traffic and arriving at work on time.

The morning and evening rush hours of Lagos are better left imagined than experienced. Despite boasting of some of the most developed roads in Nigeria, one won't be wrong to say the transit populace of the city exceeds the road space available.

To worsen matters, roadside trading activities, dilapidated roads, illegal vehicle parking, military checkpoints, bad or nonexistent traffic lights/signals, bad drainage facilities, the menace of community touts (agberos) who pester commercial drivers for money, faulty vehicles, etc, aggravate the already unpleasant state of transportation.

According to a traffic survey, a worker commuting in the city of Lagos spends an average of three hours and 55 minutes each day to and from work, the highest of any African city.

The over-dependence on road transportation is also responsible for this as other transportation sectors that are meant to alleviate the bulky patronage of road transportation such as railway and water transportation are either in poor states, badly managed or non-existent.

The Lagos terminus also known as Lagos iddo has been the main railway station of the city of Lagos before the Lagos rail mass transit which is a rapid transit system being developed and under construction in Lagos State. The rail system is being managed by Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA). The railway equipment including electric power, signals, rolling stock and fare collection equipment will be provided by the private sector under a concession contract.

Lagos state has disclosed that the first phase of the project running from mile 2 to Marina axis had achieved 80 percent completion rate.

The first phase was originally planned to be completed in June 2021 but the construction has suffered many delays caused by shortage of funds and change of government. The Lagos state government announced in February 2021 that it will be completed in December 2022. This still leaves the road the only source of transportation.

On this premise, it is considered quite understandable why the cost of transportation is high. The incessant traffic jams lead to more fuel consumption by both private and public transport commuters. Passengers pay more per kilometre in Lagos in comparison with other Nigerian cities.

There are also instances where people patronise motorbike taxis (Okadas) which travel faster in the traffic-congested areas but charge exorbitant fees.

Then the Lagos Bus Rapid Transport System (BRT) was introduced by Governor Bola Tinubu on November 2008 to help ease traffic.

Successive government in Lagos have also paid particular attention to road maintenance and construction projects alongside other measures to help with easing transportation, but much still needs to be done or Lagosians will continue to groan over the uncomfortable yet expensive transportation system the city offers.

The government needs to make serious efforts to make our roads motorable, repair the dilapidated roads, clear drainages to avoid flood and water clogs, clear all the spoilt vehicles on the roads, ban the touts and most importantly move traders out of our roads to make more space for motorists.

Also put the railways in use and fix water transportation, all these will help alleviate traffic congestion to a large extent while still working on more options.