First Steps Towards Social Inclusion in Public Transport in Lagos: The LAMATA BRT Experience

Public transportation in Lagos, Nigeria has traditionally been unregulated, chaotic, inefficient, expensive and dangerous. This article describes how the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), established in 2003, is working to change the state of public transportation and improve social inclusion with a new bus rapid transit (BRT) system. The BRT system offers high-capacity buses that run on about 60% exclusive lanes. The BRT services offers comfortable and reliable transportation to persons with physically disabilities. Fares are low and service is frequent. Persons with disabilities are able to travel on the BRT buses free of charge to many destinations and station officers are trained to assist passengers in boarding buses. Bus shelters are being equipped with signage for hearing-impaired passengers and ramps for mobility-impaired users. Although the BRT system is only 8 months old, initial findings suggest a high level of user satisfaction.