Lagos has slipped out of the top 15 cities with worst traffic problem in the world, that’s judging by the results of the TomTom Traffic Index 2017.
Correspondent, Adedoja Salam-Adeniyi reports that years back, Lagos traffic was hell. The state was ill-reputed for the World’s Worst Traffic snarls.
Traffic gridlock has always been a menace every government of Lagos State must confront.
The story started changing in 1999 when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu emerged as the governor of Lagos state. He created the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA to bring sanity to the roads.
His successor, Babatunde Fashola signed the Lagos road traffic law in August 2012, a holistic review of the state traffic law of 2003. The law was designed to ensure safety on the roads.
Lagos success is the cause of its traffic gridlock. The growth of Lagos into a mega city and the large migration of seekers of greener pastures into the state resulted in the problem of traffic congestion.
It is not really surprising that Lagos had slipped out of top ten cities with worst traffic situation in the world this year. It has always been the current Governor’s dream to address Lagos traffic nightmares even before he became the governor.
And when his dreams came true, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode organized a Traffic Management and Transportation Summit with the theme; Tackling Current, Evolving and Future Traffic Management Needs of Lagos State in November 2015.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said his government had the political will to take tough decisions and implement effective strategies to bring about a robust traffic management system.
The summit gave birth to Mobile Traffic Courts, construction of slip roads and laybyes; removal of round about along Lekki-Epe; introduction of pedestrian bridges, flyovers and the turning around of Ojodu-Berger along Lagos- Ibadan express way.
The state Commissioner for information speaks on what the removal of Lagos from the list of the world’s most traffic congested cities by TomTom Traffic index 2017 means.
The annual report of the TomTom Traffic index has Mexico City once again taking the top spot with drivers in the Mexican capital expecting to spend an average of 66% extra travel time stuck in traffic anytime of the day. Next in the global rankings are Bangkok (61%), Jakarta (58%).
TomTom’s Traffic index’s mission is to transform mobility across the world. It’s designed to help drivers, cities and transport planners to understand traffic congestion and, most importantly, reduce it.
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