Lagos Transport Policy Ready

Lagos State transportation policy is ready and may be unveiled in 2024.

A source close to the state executive council said the policy was approved by the Exco last week.

Lagos State is the first sub-national government in the West African sub region and in the country to come up with a policy for transportation operation.

Commissioner for Transportation Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi is expected to unveil the policy that will drive transportation operation into the foreseeable future.

The journey to the policy took a concrete turn between 2015 and 2019 when the former governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, set up a committee to put the policy together. The Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration had tinkered with the policy, given its commitment to deliver the policy to Lagosians.

The transportation policy was put together by a team of academia, led by Prof. Iyiola Oni, Prof. Samuel Odewunmi and other industry stakeholders and is meant to control how the sector is organised.

The policy, among others, has thematic areas such as the types of vehicles permitted for commercial operation in Lagos, minimum standard permitted for transportation operators, regulation formalities for commercial vehicle and truck operators, among others.

At the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) 20th Stakeholders’ Engagement Forum, Osiyemi and his predecessor, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, said the policy was ready and would be delivered to Lagosians before the end of the year.

Contacted, Dr. Oladeinde said the policy is ready.

He said it would boost transportation initiatives initiated by LAMATA and the Sanwo-Olu administration.

Prof. Odewunmi expressed happiness that the policy is finally ready to be unveiled.

He said it would form the bedrock for proper regularisation of the sector and might be tinkered with every five years to reflect the growing needs and peculiarities of the sector “as the state transportation sector grows.”