TheCable

The Ogun state government says there are plans to introduce Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) services in selected areas in the state.

Gbenga Dairo, the state’s commissioner for transportation, disclosed this at a general stakeholders workshop on the development of transport sector, in Abeokuta, the state capital, on Wednesday.

The commissioner said the BRT service will operate between Ota, Mowe-Ibafo and Lagos corridor.

He said the service will assist residents of the state who engage in commercial activities in Lagos.

“It is important to say here that the Ministry of Transportation will also be introducing BRT services between Ota, Mowe-Ibafo and Lagos while Park and Ride services would be on the Mowe/Ibafo and Lagos corridor,” he said.

“Ogun and Lagos States are two different places; Lagos is more or less like a city-state where everything is concentrated and the mass transit solution such as BRT fits in very well in Lagos.

“Ogun State is a large rural populace with one of two towns and cities that may have a maximum of one million people. You can’t replicate what happens in Lagos in Ogun State because Ogun has different challenges and so, it will be a different solution.

“In a place like Mowe-Ibafo, the immediate solution is something we called Park and Ride where people will rather drive from the internal part of Mowe to somewhere around Lagos-Ibadan expressway and take another form of transportation to an inner part of Lagos.”

In Lagos, the BRT service is operated by Primero Transport Services Ltd, which in May, announced an increase in fares across all routes within the state.