Afam4eva:
I won't mind standing in front of you in a bus
.

Afam4eva:
I won't mind standing in front of you in a bus

@topic
The LASG should endeavour to provide more buses to align with the population. Afterall it's for this reason that LAgos state recieves massive allocation from the FG despite not being an oil producing state.

Bontee: The system has not been really managed well in my opinion, it is not different from the normal non BRT service if the operators are rendering their service based on per bus system.

The truth of the matter is that the implementation should have been from the angle of licensing routes, areas through tenure, time or days slots to existing bus or transport operators. That is how a transportation system works, you license it to companies, give them a service contract to follow with penalties and set targets for development or milestones to meet as the years passes by.

We have countless transport companies in Nigeria like ABC, Chisco, Young shall grow and all that. You license to them for three to five years and they bid for it again with other operators at the end of the contracted tenure. Through this system they will sit up or loose those contract to other operators in the system.

You can do the same for the none BRT system and trust me things will not be as choatic as we have it today. Then empower ( is it LAWMA OR LAMATA ) to do the route, scheduling and price planning. They should be the one to negotiate and award contracts to service operators. Monitor them to follow the agreed contractual terms and to curb corruption the staffs of these service companies are fully contracted to the state or partially.

To me the lagos state government is just throwing her legs into stuff that is meant for private management.

Bontee: Everybody knows what rush hour means and we cannot used that to overlook the other sore aspects of the system. I don't think we should even be having overcrowding if it is properly managed. The pictures shown above are those of metros or trains but not bus like we have in the BRT system.

It is possible to manage rush hours but it will come at a loss of revenue or profits so that's why it is mostly left that way. The BRT system needs to be properly managed well and we will not have issues like those mentioned in the original post. There will always be crowding during rush hours but this is more like an artificial induced rush hour than the system reaching is maximum servicing point during this periods.

@nu_well I will check for that later, UN or Worldbank has a comprehensive model but i will research later.

dridowu: 2nd comet u make as a " real sincere 9jerian " not as a pdp supporter.
9ce 1

EmmyDe25:
I really dont think the BRT buses are meant for all... if you cant stand d delay, you should then make use of the other means. More reason(s) why we have commercial buses around. You dont expect the BRT buses to cater for the needs of all commuters in an overly populated city like lagos. Mind you, the project was introduced to subsidize the huge amount of money lagosians spend on transport, and complement d activities of the commercial buses... not to substitute them. I can't even remember d last time i boarded a BRT bus...... It is what you and i know, if you are in a hurry to catch up with an appointment, d BRT wouldnt be your best bet. I really dont buy into the headings you cast for this story.
BTW, how many states in Nigeria has this sort of transport system, including the FCT?

Rossikk:

Have you considered sending an email to Fash and his guys? They have their digits on the LASG website.

nu-well:
Part 1 - Trapped. Help!
I watched again yesterday as another molue BRT bus was loaded and dispatched. As has become the norm along the Ikeja-Iyana Ipaja route which I ply regularly, the bus was OVER-loaded. So much so that the men who were loading and dispatching the buses began to admit people through the exit (rear) door into the already crowded vehicle. When a few of the passengers already standing, tightly packed inside protested against being inconvenienced, the official in question commented to those around him, 'Some people are wicked o!' He simply couldn't relate with why 'some people' were hesitant about being harassed at being stuffed like sardines in a bus, for an hour-long drive.

I mentally shook my head (I did not have the strength to comment, let alone facilitate unnecessary bodily movement).

The man's utter insensitivity to the plight of the passengers let alone the reputation of his organization or even the hazards of the bad practice he was facilitating, completely bewildered me.

I had always blamed this development solely on the bus operators but it abruptly dawned on me at that moment that commuters are equally culpable - actually the Bulk portion of blame.

It is attitudes such as this from both concerned quarters - service providers and service consumers - that will truncate the BRT vision, if unchecked. No system collapses abruptly. In my line of work, I am daily confronted with the knowledge that for every accident that occurs, there are Causal and Contributory factors. An effect (mishap, accident, failure) may often be averted or mitigated despite the cause, if contributory factors are eliminated. Hence I preserve hope in spite of the ominous collapse of this laudable initiative, especially in view of the sad history of similar initiatives in the past.

So back to the question, not of who to blame, but how the blame should be apportioned.

Must Nigerians always be docile, accepting and even proponents of the unsavoury conditions they daily encounter? Why do we so easily resign to fate and smother our faith? The BRT situation is only one manifestation of this trend.

On the said day, I had even been standing at the bus stop for about an hour waiting for a bus, in a long queue that alternately thinned and coalesced according to the strength and/or patience of the other commuters (a discussion for another day). When the bus eventually arrived, we boarded until it was also overloaded. Of course, I had ensured I obtained a window seat so as to distance myself from the anticipated confusion in the aisle. My expectations were not disappointed. Shortly after departure from the terminal, the bus stopped once again, apparently to take on more passengers!

Of course, there were the few grunts of protest, a few outbursts (more of impatience than anger), even a joke or two about where the driver intended to place the new entrants. I was not amused in the least and I broke my usual reticence to voice a protest. I was tempted to start a revolt. But confrontation has never really been one of my strong points, much less physical ones.

There's only so much a one-man army can accomplish, I consoled myself, especially if those with whom you share the cause are complacent about their lot. But there will be days when logic will have to submit to brute force. So I will prepare for such a time.

On the part of the government and other relevant authorities, it baffles me that they would allow such a worthy enterprise to be mismanaged and this, not for want of evidence of these lapses requiring attention or a dearth of ideas of courses of action to take. Measures as simple as placing load restrictions on the buses could make a world of difference. I don't know if such exists. The franchisees being more concerned with their profit margins than with quality service delivery, are lackadaisical about the welfare of their customers. I am not privy to the terms of the contract between the State government and the operators but I believe certain aspects of it are being violated. From my observations, the drivers are rewarded on a sort of quota system based on the volume of traffic they move daily. I might have assumed wrongly but it was just my observation. This would explain why drivers would allow their vehicles to be so precariously loaded, in total violation of safety concerns.


To be continued...
(c) www.nu-well..com

temitope23:
The management should B??
Blame cos i still remember when i work with one of the brt company we were told to fill up the spaces so that we will be paid on time.

Ishilove: @op. I love the way you write

It was because of overcrowding that I stopped boarding molues, especially 'standing'. It ain't funny having your boobs squashed against the back of a stranger all in the name of 'standing'. Now the same trend has found its way to BRT.

Bontee:

It is actually meant for anyone who wants to use it, i can decide to travel to Ghana by bus or airplane as the final choice lies with me in relation to my present circumstance. I agree with you that it was not meant to cater for everyone and should be in conjunction with the other operators or modes of transport. This is not a Lagos state versus them issue and we are discussing this thing here because we all desire for our transport system to be efficient.

The issue here is about proper management of the blue line, i have never used the ones colored red but their buses are far better and they are managed well with room for improvement. Please visit the Lagbus website and see for yourself. Anywhere in the world where routes or bus service are contracted to private individuals then you will have a low quality service and mismanaged system. The lagbus uses bus companies to operate the areas assigned to them and you can see the difference. Proper scheduling, route planning, bus numbering system, proper fare model, service contract usage, bus timetables and various delivery options.

The blueline is not working like the lagbus service and this same idea can be extended to the commercial operators without turning them to the brt system. During rush hours two to four buses can always drop and load at the same time instead of one bus at a time. In this case you have four points of entry and they all leave, then you have another set of two or three leaving at spaced intervals. Ticket sale and inspection can actually cause delay but there are strategies to overcome that like using electronic cards ( Lagbus does this ).

You can move one bus every ten minutes or move three buses every twelve minutes but at the end of one hour, the number of passengers moved by this two options are different. The blueline needs proper planing, improvement and adequate management to meet up to present challenges. Our problem has always been implementation and management since we do not lack ideas or introducing laudable initiatives.

I love solution-talkers like you, Bontee. We will make a difference.

No i have not considered that but thanks for the suggestion and i will see to it.

thelastPope:

It shows he is a real sincere Nigerian and he is better than you. If it was an FG project, you would have insulted GEJ like five posts already!

Sincere 9gerian: The trains are overloaded, BRT buses are also overloaded. Its a Nigerian problem. The positive change we need begins with you and me

PapaBrowne: Truth is the BRT is loosing its steam. I have always wondered why despite the popularity, Fashola hasnt built new BRT lanes nor has he added sufficient amounts of new buses on the routes.

nu-well:


Are you serious? Please tell me more

temitope23: Even the picture of the brt bus you there is still okay compare to the company where i worked. The company's mode of operation is just like molue we were told to stop at each bus-stop to load with a ticketer in the bus. It is a serious offence if you don't load the bus to its maximum capacity.

You don't say!!! I hope people are reading this o!
This is exactly the kind of unwholesome management practice I suspected was being practised. So why will the driver or other staff refuse when people demand to board the buses despite being overcrowded already?

temitope23: Even the picture of the brt bus you there is still okay compare to the company where i worked. The company's mode of operation is just like molue we were told to stop at each bus-stop to load with a ticketer in the bus. It is a serious offence if you don't load the bus to its maximum capacity.

Bontee:

Then it means they have used the wrong strategy of contracting the service by amount of passengers carried instead of the distance covered or scheduling over a certain time-frame at a fixed agreed amount. With this system then just kiss quality service goodbye as they the operators are at a liberty to maximize profit and no incentive to improve or develop the system.

Do you know how many years the contract is contracted and development targets set for the operators?.

nu-well:


You don't say!!! I hope people are reading this o!
This is exactly the kind of unwholesome management practice I suspected was being practised. So why will the driver or other staff refuse when people demand to board the buses despite being overcrowded already?

AjanleKoko: It looks more like a management problem.
Truth is, the authorities may not have visibility into the problem. The personnel running the bus system are also Nigerians, and we all know how Nigerians love to be mavericks when nobody's paying close attention.

Hopefully the article will get the attention of the right people in government.

mapet: My brother, you have just "so oju abe nko" (hit the critical issue). I boarded the Blue BRT bus to work this morning and was apalled at the lack of care the management company pays to simple things. We don't expect Fashola to come from Alausa to help wash the bus, it was very dirty for starters. This is typical of workers where we're non-challant to some important things.

I think attending to low-lights like these are starters for the NURTW management. A simple N500 per bus per day at car-wash will not erode their profit.

AjanleKoko:

Ideally, for the bus system to be efficient, it needs to have its own management. This idea of involving NURTW members in the scheme was always going to be a problem. They are used to doing whatever they like.

mapet: My brother, you have just "so oju abe nko" (hit the critical issue). I boarded the Blue BRT bus to work this morning and was apalled at the lack of care the management company pays to simple things. We don't expect Fashola to come from Alausa to help wash the bus, it was very dirty for starters. This is typical of workers where we're non-challant to some important things.

I think attending to low-lights like these are starters for the NURTW management. A simple N500 per bus per day at car-wash will not erode their profit.

Bontee: This article is an eye opener and there was really lack of funding for the project with all the banks rejecting to fund the scheme except ecobank.

http://dailyindependentnig.com/2013/03/politics-of-lagbusbrt-management/

nu-well:


Hmmm...This is even more serious than I thought

mapet: For me this report was skewed...... It's negatively painting the LAGBUS Scheme. The positives far outweigh the challenges listed. Some of the stats listed there are false and questionable. It's is not true that only about 150 buses operate daily......