Osiyemi said this in an interview with the NAN on Sunday. He said that the procurement of the vehicles –Bus Rapid Transit — would further address queues at bus stations.

According to him, more BRT buses will also be provided with the support of an oil company that has promised to support the government’s effort.

According to him, “We’re aware of the long queues in all our stations, especially on Mondays. We’re working better to serve the good people of Lagos State. “We’re almost done with the procurement of 2,000 BRT buses to ease the queues in the stations.

“You know Lagos State believes in public and private partnership, therefore, an oil company is giving us 50 electric buses in addition to the ones the state government is procuring. “So, residents of Lagos State will no longer have to suffer the long queues,” he said.

The state government had earlier announced a plan to reduce transportation fares by 25 percent on all routes, the commissioner said that the announcement was one of the palliative measures to check queues in bus stations.

The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (LAMATA) established America’s First Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme, which went into operation on March 17, 2008, in Lagos, Nigeria, to reduce the number of vehicles navigating the constantly congested roads as well as to reduce, curtail, the level of gas emission, and curb the menace constituted by the commercial bus drivers in Lagos State.

It is important to note that the public transportation sector, especially the BRT in Lagos is characterized by long waiting queues, irregularity, and uncertainty around the bus arrival time which has frustrated so many to resulted in alternative transportation mediums or perhaps the purchase of individual cars, which has further increased the number of vehicles on our ever-busy roads, particularly during the peak period.

The BRT operation in the state has its dedicated lane which has been instrumental to its expansion.

The Bus Rapid Transit aimed at addressing unnecessary delays of commuters at some major bus terminals, which is sometimes connected to the non-adherence of buses to the scheduled timetable.

BRT’s operation has significantly impacted the traveling pattern of commuters around the corridor; hence, further improvement in its service will enhance the confidence of the commuters in its service.

The General Manager, Engr. (Mrs.) Ibilola Kasunmu made this known during a two-day workshop organised for media personnel at its Office in Ikeja, Lagos, stating that the new card has more embedded features and functions that will enable the cardholders enjoy and have access to faster and better services from the Lagos State Government.

She explained that the new resident card has 28 applets for different services including but not limited to applications for loan applications to the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), payment for services across multiple vendors including BRT buses, Ferry Services and Banks’ Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs).

Her words: “The card also serves as a means of personal security and identity verification at points of procuring government services, in addition to the resident cardholder being able to use it for services such as processing of driver’s licence and filing of tax returns among others”.

While imploring residents to pre-enrol on www.lagosresidents.gov.ng after which they will go to the nearest Registration Station located across the State with Proof of Address and Identity for Biometric Capturing, Mrs. Kasunmu also gave an assurance that the registration is seamless, free and does not require any form of stress, urging those that registered before 2019 and those who have changed their names and addresses to validate their information on the website.

“The old identity card was made of plastic and very limited in functionality. So, holders of the old card need to upgrade because the lifespan of the card has been changed from 10 years to five years. This is to allow for flexibility to onboard more features and expand usability because of fast-changing technology trends”, she explained.

The General Manager stated further that the Agency is projecting that no fewer than six million Lagos residents would access the new card by the end of Y2022, saying “the impact of technology on the global identification landscape includes making it cheaper and easier to identify people accurately, as well as access services quicker. With the Lagos ID Card, our children can have easy access to educational services from primary to secondary schools in the State”.

LASRRA official talking to residents“My appeal to all Lagos residents is that we should all maximise this opportunity to enable us to get access to faster and better services from the State Government”, she advised.