Lagos State Government yesterday formally unveiled plan to phase out commercial buses and motorcycles also known as “danfo” and “okada” respectively, saying commercial bus drivers and their conductors would soon begin to wear uniforms with identification codes and badges.
Saturday Telegraph had exclusively reported that the state government was planning to ban “danfo” buses and “okada” for a more efficient, comfortable and befitting vehicles. With the reform, yellow colour, which is the official colour for public transport in the state, will also be changed for blue while the danfo buses will be replaced with higher capacity buses, which would be fitted with air condition and other facilities.
The state’s Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, said this during this year’s ministerial briefing held at state secretariat. He sai d that in the new transportation reform, it would be mandated for commercial bus drivers and their conductors to appear in the new designed uniforms, adding that route tags would also be pasted on the buses for easy identification by passengers. On the strategy to be adopted in replacing the buses, Mobereola said Lagosians would be left to make choice between a rickety “danfo” bus or the fully air-conditioned buses which convey them from their street to the main road.
He said those who are interested in the new transportation model are already making efforts to key into the policy as government was committed to changing the state of transportation sector in the state. With the new reform, Mobereola explained that touting on Lagos would automatically be phased out while thuggery and other social vices associated with transporters would be totally eliminated as transportation would be made an attractive profession.
“We are determined to professionalised the road transport sector by curbing tendencies to violence; retrain drivers; create appropriate database and maintain discipline. Other components to be intro-duced are: colour uniformity for all public transport in the state, body tag, re-fleeting, repainting ‘danfos’ with new buses, new number plate, corporate outlook for operators and commuters bus routing system.”
The commissioner added that new the buses would be 30 seaters as opposed to 14/18 seaters’ Danfo buses, adding that the buses are eco friendly, comfortable and attractive. He said: “They can exchange their buses for the new buses. Their buses will be part of the equity towards the purchase of the new bus.”
Reacting to the question of outright ban, Mobereol said: “There are two ways of dealing with the issue. There is what they call outright ban and what we call economy displacement. Economic displacement simply means that you leave the residents to make choice.
If we put 250 buses in Oshodi operating at cheaper price, the vehicles are available, comfortable and efficient, who will leave those buses for danfo buses? What we experienced at Ojota, Fadeyi and Ikorodu with commuters on the BRT buses is what will happen. Commuters prefer to stay for more than an hour waiting for buses.”
