Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has revived and accelerated the completion of the Yaba Bus Terminal, four years after the project was conceived.
The terminal was on Tuesday commissioned by the governor amid excitement by traders, commuters and transporters who thronged the venue for the formal opening of the facility.
The bus station, built by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), is an ancillary infrastructure that will complement the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Red Line currently being constructed by the Sanwo-Olu administration along Yaba corridor.
The terminal will connect to the Red Metro station to facilitate an integrated mass transit and seamless connectivity among all means of land transportation.
The project, which dragged for years due to funding issues, is part of the bus reform initiative of the state government.
While inaugurating the terminal, Sanwo-Olu observed that the delivery of the infrastructure became a priority for his administration to boost the efficiency of public transportation service on the axis.
The governor said the complementary rail line would be ready in the next 18 months and this would give commuters options to choose the transportation mode they would prefer to get to their destinations.
He said: “Yaba corridor is prominent feature in the Lagos State Transportation Master Plan, because of its peculiar nature as a melting pot of commercial, technological and academic activities. The city’s evolution over the years places enormous responsibility on the Government to ensure that its dynamism and growth are sustained through balanced development.
“The facility being commissioned today is a world-class terminal from which buses will originate and terminate. In the next 18 months, this bus terminal will be integrated with the Yaba station of the Red Metro Line that is being constructed close to the terminal. The Yaba Bus Terminal reflects our vision for regulated bus services, which the State Government currently champions through Traffic Management and Transportation pillar of our T.H.E.M.E.S agenda.”
Commissioner for transportation Frederic Oladehinde noted that the Yaba Bus Terminal was the third to be delivered by the governor, disclosing that three new terminals in Ojota, Ajah and Ifako-Ijaiye would be added to public transportation assets before the end of the year.
In the terminal’s administrative building are control room, ticketing and sitting area, restaurant with kitchenette, commercial stores, passenger information display board, ATM point and sit-out area.
The operation routes of the bus terminal include Lawanson-Itire Ijesha-Cele, Iyana-Ipaja, Berger, Ikeja, Akoka and Oyingbo.
