Ogun State government will soon begin construction of bus stations for the take-off of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Mass Transit along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The State Commissioner for Transportation, Engr Dairo Olugbenga, who disclosed while speaking on a radio programme in Abeokuta, said the stations are to be sited in Mowe, Ibafo Arepo, and Berger axis of the expressway.
Dairo said construction will commence in earnest, saying that necessary implementation frameworks are being put in place. He appealed to the people to support the state government by enabling construction activity in those areas.
“I want to use this medium to plead to our people for their support, as this is another integral development geared towards easing the movement of people and goods in Ogun State, which will serve as a respite to environmental pollution by reducing emissions and promote a cleaner and safer environment in the state,” he said.
The Commissioner noted that the CNG-powered mass transit buses will be deployed to the corridor for cheaper and safe movement in advance of the construction of the bus stations.
Speaking on the process of operating the urban transport system in the state, Dairo highlighted infrastructure, law compliance, operation, and price control as the four key elements applied by the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun.
He said, “We need to let our people know that there are four applicable and adopted ways to transportation, and that is infrastructure, which if you observe during our first tenure, the Governor has worked on bad roads in all the local government areas of the state and work is still on-going.
“The second is law enforcement which will ensure all road users comply with rules and regulations guiding the usage of the roads, fostering security and safety for passengers and drivers while the third is operation.
“We are going to formalise transport operation, in that, whoever is going into it must have between 10 to 30 buses under him.
“Current operators will be encouraged to coalesce into cooperatives. This will aid proper management and monitoring of the movement of goods and people in the state.
Aside from this, there is price control. This administration is further working on providing affordable transportation for the good people of Ogun State.”