Now it’s pleasure ride on Mile 12-Ikorodu Road By Sunday Aikulola

 COMMUTERS that ply the Ikorodu Mile 12 axis of

Lagos metropolis have continued to express

happiness to the government for providing the

BRT service. In a chat with The Guardian at Mile

12 area, a commuter said: “I love what the

government has done. The buses are very

comfortable. I also love the air conditioner. I

have never missed it since it was launched.”

Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode,

recently commissioned the Mile 12- Ikorodu BRT

route. Dignitaries from all walks of life were

present to grace the occasion. All Progressives

Congress (APC) chieftain, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed

Tinubu, Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola

were among the notable dignitaries present at the

occasion.

The first BRT system was launched in March 2008

along the Mile 12 CMS corridor. The 22km BRT

has moved over 250 million passengers in the last

seven year. However, a commuter at Agric Bus

Stop urged the government to reduce the fare.

According to him, “from Agric Bus Stop to CMS is

N200.To me, it is expensive. I want the

government to reduce the fare.” Another

commuter, however noted that the BRT lanes are

good, adding that the time spent travelling from

Ikorodu to Mile 12 has reduced but however said:

“I still want the drivers of the buses to increase

their speed. It seems they have been told to travel

within a particular speed limit.”

Ambode described the project as a milestone in

public transportation system. He said the BRT

was part of the strategies to modernise the public

transport system as in major cities around the

world. “It is intended to provide efficient service

that will encourage patronage by the middle

class, thereby reducing the number of private

vehicles on our roads. Today, the BRT system as

to a large extent lived up to that expectation.

“The extension being commissioned today is an

improvement on the shortcomings noticed on the

Mile 12 to CMS corridor. This upgraded system

known as the BRT classic with the BRT lanes

running in the median will provide better

services in all ramifications.

Transportation Commissioner Dayo Mobereola

said 434 new air-conditioned buses would

provide efficient, safe, reliable and cheap

transportation means to residents. He said with

the new corridor, there would be a drastic

reduction in travel time, cutting the current two

and a half hours travel time between CMS and

Ikorodu to about 45 minutes.

The Guardian, however, gathered that motorists

still experience slight traffic gridlock on the

route. For instance between Mile 12 and Owode

Onirin in the evening, motorists usually

experience traffic congestion in the area.

Investigation also revealed that the roads left for

commercial motorists are too narrow.

A commuter who spoke with The Guardian said

the company that constructed the road did a

commendable job but noted that the routes for

commercial motorists should have been extended

beyond two lanes.

According to him, the lanes should have been

about four or five.