Lagos state govt makes U-turn on 'Danfo' buses
The Lagos state ministry of transport has said that there is no plan to ban yellow buses popularly known as ‘Danfo’ but to upgrade them to international standard, Daily Trust reports.
This was disclosed by the acting Commissioner for Transport, Lanrewaju Elegushi, on Tuesday, February 28, during a stakeholder’s forum to deliberate on how to improve the transport system in the state.
According to Elegushi, the plan of the government is to restructure the transportation system in the state to international standard.
Lagos state govt says no plan to ban ‘Danfo’ buses
He said: “What we are planning is to restructure the transportation system in the state to meet international standard.
“That is why we organised this forum to seek the contributions of the people involved at the new Bus Terminal at Tafawa Balewa Square.
“We are changing the face of the transport system in Lagos state with fully air condition buses, charging port, CCTV and other infrastructure for the benefit of commuters.”
Elegushi said the government had also embarked on the building of standard bus terminus in various locations across the state, to standardise the transport system.
He appealed to the stakeholders to make judicious use of the new bus terminal at TBS.
In his remarks, Kunle Azeez, chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Idumota branch, commended the government for building befitting bus terminal for members of the union.
He assured the government that members of the union would obey rules and regulations and ensure proper maintenance of the terminal.
He said: “We appreciate the government for carrying us along in its development plan.
“I am sure that our members will not let the government down in its plan to make the state a mega city.”
On February 6, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode announced that the government plans to banish commercial buses.
READ ALSO: Yellow Danfo: Here are the 3 main reasons Governor Ambode is banning them this year
Ambode had said at the 14th annual lecture of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) at Muson Centre: “When I wake up in the morning and see all these yellow buses and see Okada and all kinds of tricycles and then we claim we are a mega city, that is not true and we must first acknowledge that that is a faulty connectivity that we are running.
“Having accepted that, we have to look for the solution and that is why we want to banish yellow buses this year. We must address the issue of connectivity that makes people to move around with ease and that is where we are going.”