THE Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, rolled out the first batch of the 1,000 brand-new GAC-branded automobiles under the safe, comfortable and modernised taxi scheme.
The scheme, codenamed “LAGOS RIDE”, was launched at the State House, Alausa, yesterday.
The laudable taxi initiative, which is being operated on a lease-to-own basis, is a component of the State Government’s multimodal transportation blueprint being executed under the Traffic Management and Transportation pillar of the THEMES agenda of the Sanwo-Olu administration.
The initiative is a partnership between Lagos State-owned Ibile Holdings Limited and CIG Motors Company Limited, with the objective to provide clean and reliable means of taxis movement across the metropolis at affordable cost, using brand-new vehicles.
Operators are required to pay about N1.9 million down payment of which the sum covers the 20 per cent equity of cost of vehicle, registration and insurance.
Each car being used in the scheme comes with technology-enabled security features that monitor every journey undertaken.
Sanwo-Olu, while launching the scheme, said: “The need to provide better, dignifying and more rewarding means of transportation and livelihood for the unemployed and underemployed population gave birth to the new ‘Lagos State Taxi Scheme’, which will be operated on a lease-to-own basis. Under this arrangement, a beneficiary will be provided with a brand-new car which will become the driver’s property after completion of the payment of the vehicle’s subsidized cost.
“This taxi scheme will complement the various bus services which are making a significant impact in the lives of our people; the water transport service, which is recording unprecedented patronage, as well as the Blue and Red Line Rail services which are on course to commence commercial operations between the last quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2023.”
To improve riders’ and passengers’ security, Sanwo-Olu said a full security gadget, including a 360 dashboard camera that will give 24-hour audio-visual feeds to the control centre, had been pre-installed on each car deployed for the scheme.
He added that each car came with a physical panic button that could be used by anyone on board in case of assault or emergency. The panic button, the
Governor said, is also on the mobile application and is connected to the Control and Command Centre.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladehinde, described the scheme as “another milestone achievement” by the State Government, noting that the initiative had joined an array of other innovative solutions initiated in the transport sector, which were targeted at redefining public transportation.
To make the rides affordable, the Commissioner said the technology on which the scheme is operated had made ride-sharing possible for passengers, who would agree to share rides and share transit costs.
The Governor has, however, claimed that the aim of Lagos Ride is not to run existing hailing ride operators out of the business, but to offer a safer alternative and to also clear the roads of rickety cars being used for taxi business. The scheme, he said, will provide opportunities to the operators to become owners of the vehicles within a three to four years period.