Why BRT buses are in very bad shape- Lagos Commissioner

Published: September 24,2013

Lagos has also acquired about 90 new BRT buses.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Public Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, on Monday said that the state government had taken delivery of 90 new buses to ease the transportation difficulties facing the residents. He also gave reasons why many of the BRT buses were in a poor state, saying it was caused by dearth of spare parts.

Mr. Opeifa told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the state government acquired the buses for its Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) scheme.

He said that the new buses would soon be inaugurated.

He said that the Safest Way Transport Company in Agege and the Mutual Transports Company in Ejigbo/Ikotun had acquired 10 and 30 buses respectively, alongside 50 buses that were already acquired by the state.

Reacting to the commuters’ complaints about the poor condition of BRT buses, Mr. Opeifa attributed the slow pace of maintenance work on the buses to the dearth of spare parts.

“You know, we don’t manufacture buses and we don’t manufacture spares but we have acquired additional 50 buses.

“Besides, Safest Way Transport in Agege has just acquired 10 more buses, while Mutual Transports in Ejigbo/Ikotun has also acquired another 30 buses.

“We have a total of about 80 to 90 new buses now, which will soon be introduced; we are also working hard with the operators to improve their capacity to fix their buses.

“The major problem is the issue of spare parts, which we don’t manufacture, but by and large, the operators can do better.

“We are working hard with the owners of those buses to ensure that they improve on the quality of their services,’’ he said.

Opeifa, however, expressed the state government’s commitment to putting in place a first-class transport system in the state so as to promote the people’s socio-economic activities.

(NAN)