Okada, Tricycle Ban Will Lead To Untold Hardship – LCCI

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has kicked against the ban of motorcycles and tricycles in Lagos State by the government, stating that commuters will suffer untold hardship if the ban is continued.

In a statement issued on Sunday by the Director-General of the LCCI, Muda Yusuf, the Chamber stated that the prices of transportation in Lagos will shoot up astronomically if the ban on motorcycles and tricycles is sustained.

According to the statement,:“One of the biggest challenges of urbanization is traffic congestion. This is more so in a state like Lagos which has the largest population and the smallest land size in the country.

“The growth in the number of vehicles has consistently outpaced the road capacity. We also recognize the increasing traffic and security nuisance that some of the commercial motorcycles and tricycles create in the state. Clearly, these are situations that call for drastic action by the government.

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“However, it is important to situate the conversation within the context of a Root Cause Analysis. The proliferation of the commercial motorcycles and tricycles in Lagos state are manifestations of the shortcomings of the transportation system in Lagos state.

“They are the symptoms of deeper issues in the transport ecosystem. Some of these include Rapid and growing population in the state without commensurate planning for intracity transportation, Rapid urbanization and internal migration issues because of the security issues in other parts of the country, High vehicular density, intractable traffic congestion and frequent lockdown, especially during peak periods of traffic, Impossible traffic conditions resulting from the state of the roads.

“The Lagos Badagry expressway and the Apapa axis are good examples, Absence of a robust mass transit system suitable for an increasing population and emerging megacity, Limited road capacity which has been long outpaced by the vehicular growth, Absence of complementary modes of transportation, especially water transportation, rail and subways, Weak institutional capacity for enforcement of traffic regulations.”

On consequences that might arise if the ban is sustained, the LCCI stated that: “The enforcement of the traffic law in its current form would have a profound social, economic and political costs.