Thursday mornings usually bustle with traffic from all ends of Lagos. It is the day set aside by market people to clean up the environment of their place of business. They want to get there early, do the clean-up that lasts until 10am and start business for the day. It is also a working day where school children and their parents or guardians either go to school or to the workplace. For this reason, there is usually activity at the busy Berger bus stop located on the outskirts of Lagos and a stone’s throw from Lagos State’s northern border with Ogun State.
The morning of May 2, 2019 was however not as bustling as was usually the case. And it was a day after the May Day celebrations, which should have made the people eager to return to work but the roads were unusually free. What was strange though was the number of danfo buses headed to Oshodi at the stop located on the expressway meant for private cars and not far from the main bus park. There were five danfo buses with their conductors jostling for passengers. On a good day, there would have been only two, with one almost full and the second waiting its turn. The five buses were empty although the conductors had reduced fares from the usual N300 to N200 and were shouting this out at the top of their voices. The bus stop was also devoid of passengers heading to the Lagos Island, who hoped to hitch a ride with private car owners going to the island.
Not far down the road, one could see that the Bus Reform Initiative (BRI) of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was in full swing with up to seven buses waiting for passengers either going to Oshodi or to TBS on the Lagos Island. Launched a day before, the buses occupy the space the now dreaded red Lagbus buses used to command. One could recognise some staff of the former company now wearing the blue uniform and cap of IBSL, apparently the new company in charge and anchor of the BRI.
The ticket for Oshodi is priced at N150, while that heading to the Lagos Island is N200. The Oshodi bound bus, no doubt a high capacity one, has at least 50 seats with space for standing passengers.
The six emergency exits, a first aid box, a dedicated USB port for charging of handheld devices for each sitting passengers, television and CCTV cameras are all on board. In fact, the USB port functions even if it charges slowly, you get enough juice to work while in transit.
This bus also caters for people with disabilities, there is one such person on board, getting on long before I arrive. I cannot say for a fact whether the wi-fi works as I never had occasion to try it but the two television screens do not come on as the driver, who is rather too careful unlike the average Lagos driver, chooses to put on the radio instead. The air conditioner is also not at full blast. But it’s okay. The heat cannot penetrate.
Before I alight at Anthony Bus Stop, not the BRT stops as this bus neither stops there nor uses the BRT lane, we are stuck in traffic twice. The first time is when we merge with the Ojota traffic on Ikorodu Road and when we pull out to travel on the road above the Independence Tunnel at Maryland. Perhaps when more people hear about the new service they will park their cars and ride along consequently reducing traffic on Lagos roads.
To stop, passengers get to press one of the six or so bells on the bus. Everything is new and most of the excited passengers are happy and hope that the buses will not only be properly maintained but also available whenever they want to move from one place to another. Some hope more routes will be added soon and some others are amazed that such a thing could happen in their lifetime.
Me, I just want to get to the office quickly and write about it.