CRACKING THE THIRD MAINLAND BRIEF

Hi guys. I had a BUSY BUSY DAY yesterday. So i could not write any post. In the past two weeks, we have been discussing Values. I believe strongly in this as the foundation for any serious society. There is another thing that pains my heart that is THE THIRD MAINLAND BRIDGE TRAFFIC. Gosh. You don't want to be caught in that traffic. On an average daily, i spend close to 5 hours in traffic. To me that is a whole lot of time to waste on the road.It’s insane to say the least. By the way i sleep in the morning and read a book or write the next article for my blog. So, i just thought of some solutions that i will mention below.They are just my thoughts and i think they can help.What I see time after time again is that each time we get to the end of the bridge there is nothing causing this traffic. It is just the influx of cars. Everyday, i see not less that 3 cars with the learner sign. This just tells me that the cars will not stop coming. So,i personally think road construction will not work. We just have to look at other ways of commuting.  In the meantime though, let us crack this third mainland bridge traffic together. lol.


1. Mass Transit: I personally believe, all the yellow cars on the road should be phased out. By Yellow Buses i mean Danfo & Keke(Tricycles &Buses). They can be replaced with the BRTs (Bus Rapid Transit).When the BRTs first introduced into the Nigeria, I thought it was the best thing that has happened to us in a long time. But now, the Buses are not even properly maintained. Let us get more buses with some more lane leading to the Island. This will definitely reduce traffic on the road. I for one will drop my car at home to join the bus.

2. Toll gate at entry point into the mainland: This can discourage driving. I think there should be an heavy levy at entry points into the Island. This may discourage people from taking their cars to the Island.

3. Congestion and parking Tax: Even if you take your car out at all. let there be tax for parking. In the U.K for example, The Congestion Charge is an  11.50 pounds daily charge for driving a vehicle within the charging zones between 7.00 and 18.00, Monday to Friday. We can replicate that here, have designated places such as in Marina. where you have to pay for congestion fee. This should be regulated by paying online into the TSA. We can even use such money to maintain roads and possibly build more ones if need be.

4. Water Ways:It is an irony how we just have the water beside us and we are not doing enough about it. Logically should follow that a good percentage of daily commuter journeys from the mainland to the Island and vice versa ought to be based on water transport. We however know from current situation on ground that this is not so. Other major cities around water such as New York, Hong Kong and Rotterdam have capitalized on this resource for years and there is no reason why Lagos shouldn’t as well. The time is now for ongoing efforts by the current Lagos state administration to develop the waterways to start producing visible results. At the moment, the players in Lagos water ways are too few and are not big enough to make meaningful impact on lessening the reliance on road based transport or reducing traffic congestion. The call is out for bigger, more ambitious, private sector lead water transport undertakings that can project water based transport into the mainstream with adequate support and concessions provided by the Lagos state government.


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