Lagos Traffic Radio And Management
Lagos Traffic Radio (96. 1 Fm), which was created about six years ago has, no doubt, become a household name among commuters and motorists who mostly depend on it for firsthand information on traffic situation across the metropolis. Rising traffic congestion is an inescapable condition in large and growing metropolitan areas across the world. Peak-hour traffic congestion is an inherent result of the way modern societies operate. It stems from the widespread desires of people to pursue certain goals that inevitably overload existing roads and transit systems every day. Like every cosmopolitan city across the world, Lagos experiences traffic gridlock.
Until the birth of Lagos Traffic Radio, nothing, not even years of living here adequately ever prepares motorists for a complete standstill in the middle of the roads. In the past, people could doze off and wake up 30 minutes later on the same spot with no clue as to the cause of the gridlock.
Famous artistes such as Ebenezer Obey, Majek Fashek and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti have all sang about the Lagos traffic situation and how it feels to get stuck in it. That was when the population (of people and vehicles) and traffic situation weren’t as much as it is now. A life of struggle and survival of the fittest you would call it, yet economic opportunities continue to draw more and more people to Lagos.
Ordinarily, it could have been worse if not for the variety of strategies and approaches that have been deployed by successive administrations in the state to deal with the perennial gridlock. These include the issuance of ‘Odd’ and ‘Even’ numbers in the early 1980s which allowed motorists ply certain routes within specified periods. The success of this approach may not have been visible and adequate for the Lagos of today. Establishment of LASTMA, LAGBUS, LAMATA, BRT system, etc., are among strategies and policies devised toward ensuring free flow of traffic, road safety and social and economic development.
Today, one thing that is very clear is that Lagos Traffic Radio is optimally responding to the challenges of traffic management in the state by effectively communicating traffic information to the people. With the radio, commuters and motorists are empowered with the needed information on the situation of the roads within the different axis of Lagos at any point in time and don’t have to doze off and wake up minutes later again where there exist alternative routes.
Lagos Traffic Radio 96.1 FM predominantly reports Lagos Traffic to Lagos motorists, but because of the power of technology it has been able to reach even the core areas of the metropolis including places such as Agilete, Ogere and even up to the fringes of Ibadan.
Though Lagos has huge concentration of media houses, Traffic Radio 96.1 FM, which runs 24 hours services, has proven to be a well-thought out problem solving innovation and a critical enabler of democracy. It has continued to create platforms for citizens to participate in, and contribute to traffic management. It teaches Mass Communication students practical citizen journalism as motorists, commuters, passers-by, LASTMA officials call-in from time to time to file-in their report and at the same time respond to questions from the station’s anchors on duty. In other words, while officials of LASTMA could be referred to as chief correspondents, it makes all interested Lagosians news correspondents.
The station from inception work together with LASTMA, a synergy partner which collates the information about traffic information while the station use the power of radio to communicate to the public the Lagos traffic situation. Rasak Musbau, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja