‘FCT transport policy, poor imitation of Lagos BRT’

The union of commercial bus drivers in Abuja, the Self-Employed Commercial Drivers Association, has described the new transport policy of the Federal Capital Territory Administration as a poor imitation of the Lagos Bus Rapid Transport system.

The union therefore demanded the suspension of the policy, which it said had increased the hardship of commuters and drivers in the FCT.

The association said the policy would render many drivers jobless, increase the unemployment rate in the country and compound the security crisis in the nation.

FCT Secretary of SECDA, Innocent Asogwa, told our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday that the transport policy introduced by the FCTA on Monday had affected over 30,000 commercial bus drivers, apart from thousands of commuters living in the satellite towns.

Asogwa said the government had not put in place the needed measures that would ensure success of the policy.

He observed that the policy could work if the government had provided enough high capacity bus to service the teeming population of commuters.

“We are not against the transport policy of the FCT. But its poor attempt to copy the Bus Rapid Transport system of Lagos State is not working because it did not put in place the necessary facilities like high capacity buses, dedicated BRT lane and other measures that could make the policy work as it is working in Lagos and elsewhere,” he said.

The SECDA secretary alleged that his union members were not allowed to ply the routes that were approved for them, adding that the mini-bus drivers could no longer gain access to Idu and Gwarimpa, which were part of their allocated routes.