Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos has announced plans to roll out his administration’s bus reform project in March with 820 high and medium capacity buses.
The governor, who said this during an extensive inspection tour of ongoing projects across the state on Wednesday, said the initiative was basically designed to inject 5,000 buses, modern terminals, facilitate ease of mobility for residents and also rev up Lagos economy, among others.
While inspecting the assembling plant in Awoyaya in Ibeju Lekki area of the state which is also serving as the temporary holding bay for 500 out of the 820 buses, Governor Ambode expressed optimism that the buses would be rolled out after the elections, while the next phase of the project would be to assemble the buses in Lagos.
“The dream is that beyond the procurement of 820 buses by government, the next set of buses in the vision should be assembled in Lagos in this assembling plant and another one in Epe,” he said.
Ambode said though the 5,000 buses would not be enough, the government was showing good example and creating the conducive atmosphere to allow the private sector to come in and participate in the whole arrangement.
The 820 buses, which have already been delivered, are equipped with cameras, USB point, internet, television, and special spaces for physically challenged, pregnant women and the aged, among others.
The governor, who rode in one of the buses with cabinet members, allayed fears of some residents over ongoing projects, saying that concerted efforts would be made to complete many of them before the expiration of his tenure.
He said the good thing about the continuity in governance which he had been preaching is that the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had signed on to the projects.
