-As Sanwo-Olu says 2 million vehicles registered in Lagos deserve best parking practices
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday said the much-anticipated Red Line Mass transit train will be commissioned on February 29.
The inauguration will be done by President Bola Tinubu according to the Governor.
Sanwo-Olu made the disclosure at the Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) Stakeholders Forum 2024 at GRA, Ikeja.
The Red Line, which is from Agbado in Ogun State terminates at Oyigbo, is one of the integrated mass transit corridors in the State.
Lagos State Parking Policy was the law that came in 2021 which established the Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) with the responsibility of regulating all forms of parking, adopting innovative, adaptable and sustainable operational system and technologies.
Earlier, the Governor said, “We are intentional and unrelenting in our efforts to address all traffic issues in the state, and we have identified indiscriminate parking as one of the major challenges to the free flow of traffic.
“We have adopted a model that ensures a win-win situation between the State and Local Governments. Lagos has already shown that this kind of State—LGA partnership can work, through the establishment of LASAA, and through the Land Use Charge, and we are now set to showcase the same with the Lagos State Parking Authority.
“Therefore, the Local Governments in Lagos State, under the Conference 57 umbrella, and Mr. Kolade Alabi, the National President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), are our strategic partners in this renewed effort to regulate parking across the State.”
He stated that the government had approved the On-Street parking scheme, to regulate the existing roadside parking and checkmate haphazard parking in line with global best practices.
He further disclosed, “The On-Street parking scheme, as with most of our projects, is being done in partnership with the private sector, and we will continue to explore the Public Private Partnership model in order to benefit from its effectiveness in delivering high-quality service to meet the needs of our increasing population.
“The On-Street parking scheme will be operated under a well-designed and systematic module managed by concessionaires, and will be regulated by Lagos State Parking Authority. It is expected to be a win-win for both the government and residents of the state.”
While urging all stakeholders in the sector to comply with the Lagos State Parking Policy, the Governor stated, “I would also like to reiterate our administration’s zero tolerance policy for the flouting of rules and regulations guiding the Lagos transport sector.
In her welcome address, General Manager, LASPA, Mrs. Adebisi Adelabu said Parking management was on the centre stage in the actualization of meeting the target of traffic management of the state governor
She further stated that, “Existing data shows that over 1.2 million registered vehicles ply the roads of this city, with about 224 vehicles per kilometer of road space for a population of over 24 million people.
“A recent statistic from the federal road safety commission (FRSC) reveals that there are over 13 million vehicles on Nigeria roads. Interestingly, more than 2 million are here in Lagos. It might also interest you to note that over 18,000 vehicles were registered in Lagos in January alone.
“All of the aforementioned data, goes further to justify the importance of regulating Parking by providing a sustainable and efficient Parking management system.
“Across the world and in most metropolitan cities, parking is a strategic tool in traffic management. And we aim to ensure our efforts to address all parking issues are successful thereby positioning Lagos state as a leading light amongst other cities, when it comes to parking management.
“So far we have identified over 20,000 setbacks suitable for parking across the state and more than 13,000 are already in use, while works are ongoing to identify more.”
