Ogun Plans CNG Bus Stations in Berger, Ibafo, Others to Ease Transport Cost

By Adedapo Adesanya 

The Ogun State Government has disclosed that the construction of bus stations for the take-off of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Mass Transit scheme along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway axis will commence soon, with core stations to be sited within the Mowe, Ibafo, Arepo, and Berger axis of the ever-busy expressway.

This was disclosed by the state’s Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Olugbenga Dairo, on Thursday as a guest on a radio programme in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

According to him, the construction will commence in earnest, as necessary implementation frameworks have been put in place, even as he urged the people to lend their support to the state government towards the successful construction activities in those areas.

“I want to use this medium to plead to our people for their support, as this is another integral part of development geared towards easing the movement of people and goods in Ogun State, which will serve as a respite to environmental pollution by reducing emissions and promote a cleaner and safer environment in the state,” he said.

Mr Dairo noted that the CNG-powered mass transit buses will be deployed to the corridor for cheaper and safer movement in advance of the construction of the bus stations.

Speaking on the process of operating the urban transportation system in the state, the commissioner highlighted infrastructure, law compliance, operation, and price control as the four key elements applied by Governor Dapo Abiodun.

“We need to let our people know that there are four applicable and adopted ways to transportation, and that is infrastructure, which if you observe during our first tenure,  the Governor has worked on bad roads in all the local government areas across the state and work is still ongoing.

“The second is law enforcement, which will ensure all road users comply with rules and regulations guiding the usage of the roads, fostering security and safety of passengers and drivers while the third is operation.

“We are going to formalise transport operation, in that, whoever is going into it must have between 10 to 30 buses under him.

“Current operators will be encouraged to coalesce into cooperatives. This will aid the proper management and monitoring of the movement of goods and people in the state.

“Aside from this, there is price control. This administration is further working on providing affordable  transportation for the good people of Ogun State.”