Iyana-Ipaja/Abule Egba BRT Route Soon As Ambode Plans to banish Danfo

The state government through her agency in charge of regulating Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) is perfecting plans of introducing the BRT route on the Abeokuta expressway connecting Iyana-Ipaja, Abule Egba and others soon. This has become very vital as the governor Mr Akinwunmi Ambode plans to banish the yellow commercial buses popularly called ‘danfo’ on major Lagos roads, the news has been generating mixed reactions by commuters and operators alike.
While a majority appreciate the new move by the government, others are of the opinion that the ban would create unemployment and further impoverish this class of Lagosians owing to the current economy situation of Nigeria and may lead to an increase in various kinds of crimes.
Clearing the air on the need to phase out the danfo buses in metropolitan Lagos, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode who spoke through the Special Adviser on Communities and Communications, Hon. Kehinde Bamigbetan said the “plan to remove danfo buses from the major roads in Lagos is a project in line with creating the Mega city we all desire. The first information that made the news was a well-thought plan of several months’ efforts and research by the government.”
The Special Adviser who stressed the need to create an effective transport system continued that “the whole idea of taking danfo away from metropolitan Lagos is to enable more BRT buses become economically viable. The new plan is to create a transport system that carries the greatest number of people with the least number of buses as a solution to the congestion that is plaguing all of us on Lagos roads. Putting the BRT buses in that line, you find out that for every BRT bus, you get three danfo commuters in one.”
Speaking on the factors responsible for phasing out danfo buses on major Lagos roads, Hon. Bamigbetan said “the factors responsible for the new shift involves the demographic, aesthetics and economic reasons to transform Lagos into the Mega city of our dreams.”
“Our target is to have 5000 mass transit buses to be able to effectively man our street. The more the buses come into town, the more it is important to create a policy environment for them to be sustained because it costs a lot of money in terms of investment and those who are investing in the business need to be assured of their return on investment at the shortest period of time which means that we must reduce the competition that they currently have,” he added. He further reiterated that the yellow commercial buses will only confined their operations within the inner routes.