Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority
The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) is the Lagos State Government agency created to coordinate transport planning, policies, and public transport infrastructure implementation in the Lagos Metropolitan Area, Nigeria. The organisation oversees wide range of transport planning and implementation of transport strategies and plans in Lagos, as well as the Lagos Rail Mass Transit and the Lagos Bus Rapid Transit System. It is based in Ikeja. The bill setting up the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) was signed into law on 13 January 2002 by the then Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (1999 – 2007). The law empowered LAMATA with the responsibility of reforming the transport system in Lagos. Background The United Nations defined Lagos as the only mega city yet to have an organized public transportation. The population is highly mobile and largely reliant upon public transport however the lack of formally organized public transport has led to gross inefficiencies in its provision and a low level of service to those forced to use it. Public transport in Lagos has been widely described as chaotic, inefficient, expensive, low quality and dangerous both in terms of road traffic accidents and personal safety. Transformation of the Informal Sector The performance of the Bus services has been influenced by the inability of the government authority to effectively franchise all the Bus Routes in Lagos. It is obvious that each bus routes has a peculiar operational characteristics considering the social, economic and environmental variables that will guide their operations. As a result, the continuous franchising of all the Bus Routes in Lagos is expedient. To expedite the process of Bus franchising and effective route coordination, LAMATA has produced Lagos State Strategic Transport Master Plan (LSSTMP) and Bus Route Network (BRN) document to guide in the phased franchising of all the bus routes. The LSSTMP identified fourteen BRT routes while the Bus Route Network Study identified 485 individual bus routes, consisting of mass transit, standard and feeders’ routes. The process geared towards the franchising of these routes is ongoing. The concept adopted for the franchise system currently running in Lagos under LAMATA regulated bus scheme is the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. In this model, the service routes are franchised to a Private Operator whereby Government provides the infrastructure i.e. bus depot/garage, terminals, shelters and TSM measures, construction and rehabilitation of roads. The private sector procures the buses, is responsible for operation and maintenance of the buses, recruitment of personnel and revenue collection among others. The contract option that is currently being used for the current contract i.e. Ikorodu – TBS and the bus franchise scheme on Maryland – IyanaIpaja – Ikotun – Igando bus services, is the net cost management contract. The Contract option allows LAMATA to specify the routes, design service specifications, set standard of operations and fares whilst the operator recruit, train crew and manage operations. The operator also enters into a franchise agreement with the State Government to maintain the buses, adhere to the set