LAGOS CABLE CARS TO BE READY SOON - GOV. FASHOLA

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, said the state
government had commenced the construction of the route for the cable
car project to complement the transportation system in the state,
saying, "the project is on the verge of completion."
Fashola, who disclosed this at the event marking the 2013 World
Habitat Day: 'Urban Mobility,' at the Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja, said
the introduction of the cable car transportation was in line with the
global practices.
The governor, who was represented by Commissioner for Transportation,
Mr. Kayode Opeifa, described the innovation as vital to achieving the
mega city status.
He assured that, "the present administration is committed to
activating every means of transportation in Lagos in order to reduce
numbers of vehicles on the road, which translates to unhealthy volumes
of carbon emissions."
Fashola noted that the state would soon commission the Blue and Red
Rail lines to further increase residents transport options, saying,
"when completed, about 1.6 million Lagosians would be transported
daily."
According to him, "at the end of the 2014, the Blue Line of the rail
project should begin to transport residents from Mile2 to Marina, a
journey of about 13.5 kilometres, in the shortest possible time.
"We are also proud to say that the cable car, a veritable means of
fast and unhindered transportation, is on the verge of completion.
"To grow the economy of our dear city of Lagos into one of the model
mega cities in Africa, embracing the best practices in the
transportation/urban mobility cannot be overlooked.
"Lagosians must accept the concept of transportation as safer and more
economical. We must recognise that individual transportation
translates to more vehicles on the roads, which translates to an
unhealthy volume of carbon emissions.
"Hence, our drive is to provide a combination of transportation that
would include road, rail and water-ways. The challenges, however, are
formulating more innovative changes aimed at ensuring the
sustainability of these policies," he added.
Speaking on the theme, Fashola said that the theme was apt, boasting
that his administration is already working on arrays of affordable
intercity modes of transportation to easy the movement of the
residents, having realised that over 70 per cent of the residents live
in the state metropolis.
Commissioner for Physical Planning, Mr. Olutoyin Ayinde explained that
the 2013 theme of the World Habitat Day was not determined by his
ministry, but the United Nations, saying, "the state government state
is living no stones unturned to implement the intermodal
transportation.
"Our water transportation now moves about two million people daily.
The cable car will take off from Apapa and link to Falomo via Lagos
Island.
"The visibility study is on and tests are being conducted. Soon,
Lagosians would soon experience another transportation experience. The
Blue line and the Redline rail projects are on-going and will soon
completed. Lagos state is the third in the African continent to
achieve urban mobility.