The Lagos State Government (LASG) is seeking the state House of Assembly’s endorsement to execute its recently introduced transport initiative known as the Bus Industry Transition Programme.
The BITP, known as the Bus Industry Transition Programme, is a strategy designed to establish a policy framework that will revamp the current bus industry. It aims to develop a fresh business model that integrates existing bus operators and their routes into future Quality Bus Corridors, as indicated in a statement by the Assembly on Sunday.
This initiative is being spearheaded by the Lagos State Government, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation and the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, along with other relevant stakeholders.
Addressing the Lagos State House of Assembly’s Transportation Committee, led by Adewale Adedeji, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, the Commissioner for Transportation, emphasized that the program’s objective is to tackle “the unscrupulous activities associated with the yellow commercial buses.”
“The BITP is something that Lagosians should embrace. It is a three-year model plan whereby we are planning to migrate the informal sector and marry them to the formal sector. We all know the madness associated with our yellow buses.”
“We are involving the transport unions to reassure them that we are not yanking off whatever it is that they are doing. We are only formalising the sector in such a way that we will have an efficient transportation system and build the kind of mega city that we crave,” he said.
Discussing the responsibilities of the Assembly, the commissioner stated, “The legislature, of course, has lots of roles to play in what we do because the lawmakers are the ones that coordinate and assist in the areas of forming policies and rules and in situations when we need to get our budget, planning, and funding right.”