How we intend to reduce traffic congestion in Lagos through Live Report Motorcycles — GM, Traffic Radio

Tayo Akanle is the General Manager, Lagos Traffic Radio, an arm of the Ministry of Information and Strategy in Lagos State. In this interview by SEGUN KASALI, he speaks on the organisation’s readiness to solve the state’s traffic issues.

 

IN what specific ways will Live Report Motorcycles in solving the persistent traffic gridlock in the state? 

With the information that we intend to provide, you would decide whether to move on or take alternative routes when there are unfavourable traffic situations. If you arrive at the scene on time, you can be able to give information about the cause, the extent and also gather comprehensive information as to why motorists are on a particular spot for a long time in order to spend less time on the road.

For instance, there are about one million vehicles on the road per day; you would have about four people in a car. So, four times one million is four million, plus the buses. That means that there are over five million commuters every day. That is why we are coming up with the initiative of Live Report Motorcycles.

We are in a city where movements of people are mostly done on the roads and with that, we have come to the realisation that there would be major incidents on our highways. This would lead to a lot of traffic gridlock in and around such incident spots. We resolved on how we could do things differently that will make a positive impact.

However, we are focusing on avoiding traffic-induced accidents. Of course, the present government is on top of other modes of transportation in a bid to decongest the roads. As we all know that the effect of incidents on our highways cannot be overemphasised; hence, the importance of the need to devise means to nip the issue in the bud.

 

Do you think your initiative would redefine the future?

Prior to the birth of this idea, we always arrived at incident spots very late. By coming there late, the information that would have been disseminated would be delayed. But now, with these bikes’ manoeuvrability and speed, we will begin to get to incident spots on time and feed commuters and motorists timely information to make a quick fix to their journey guide. We are not in a hurry. We are trying to identify two major areas: the outward bound and inward bound of Lagos-Ibadan expressway and Ikorodu stretch. We are focusing on those areas, for now, to see how effective we can be.

The reason for the choice of the areas is due to the frequency of incidents. We are mindful of the plight of Lagosians considering the gridlock they encounter on the roads. We will do it in a more professional way because we have trained journalists that will give comprehensive situation report to those who need it.

 

How would you describe the synergy between your organisation and the Ministry of Transportation?

The current government enlists the support of stakeholders in the transport sector prior to the birth of any initiative. The relationship between the Ministry of Information, Traffic Radio and Ministry of Transportation is cordial and working for the best of Lagosians.

 

What is the long-term relevance of single-focused stations like yours, or is it that traffic issues in Lagos will never be solved? 

A state like Lagos is a special one because the population will keep increasing. Any increase in human population would have effect on the roads. So, this kind of specialised station will be there for a long time. The station will continue to play a major role in easing traffic issues in the state.

This is the only station that provides traffic information to all road users in the state. I believe other countries of the world would emulate it in solving their own unique problems. This is a home-grown initiative to solving traffic issues in the state.

 

But funding is an integral part of any organisation and your organisation is choosy in the kind of adverts aired. How do you intend to fund these initiatives and others you would like to come up with? 

Money is not everything. In the organisation’s establishment mode, there are some adverts they don’t air because of their capability of distracting us from our major focus. For instance, we don’t take obituary adverts because we don’t want the listeners who are motorists to be fed with bad news. We don’t take alcohol-related adverts because we are a safety-oriented organisation. If you are promoting alcohol, you are not promoting safety. However, the government is really trying through its subvention and we will use that to run the organisation. We are really grateful to the governor for doing that for us and that has helped us.

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