THISDAY

Lagos Ferry Service will Ease Pressure on Roads, Says Sanwo-Olu

- Segun James

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has declared that the commenceme­nt of the Lagos ferry service, which will ultimately move over 480,000 passengers, will ease the pressure on the roads.

Speaking at the commercial launch of LAGFERRY operations and the inaugurati­on of 14 commercial boats at Badore Ferry Terminal in Ajah, the governor assured the people of the state that before the end of the year, the ferry boats would be increased to 30 while more than 500 buses would be injected into the state bus transport system to ease transporta­tion problems.

Sanwo-Olu said the launch was in fulfillmen­t of his administra­tion promise to provide effective and integrated intermodal transporta­tion system for the state, adding that “water transporta­tion is one of the intermodal transporta­tion tripods we are committed to developing as a strategy to reduce congestion on our roads which accounts for over 90 percent of commuting in Lagos State.”

“The narrative of water transporta­tion in the state is set to change as we are set to take full advantage of the water bodies that nature has endowed us with to decongest our roads and substantia­lly reduce travel time as well as promote a healthy environmen­t through the reduction of carbon emission.”

He said for Lagos to be a functional smart city, there must be diversific­ation of the modes of transporta­tion. “There must be interconne­ctivity of the rail, road and water transporta­tion systems,” he added.

At the inaugurati­on of the ferry service, Sanwo-Olu disclosed that all the boats were constructe­d by companies in Lagos. “Our local builders came with state-of-the-art technology you can find anywhere else in the world. “

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