As Lagosians and Nigerians in other states of the federation gear up for their first day at work following the Federal Government’s decision to suspend its lockdown directive, the Lagos State government has initiated safety measures to ensure that residents of the state do not contract the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state government, reiterating its commitment to providing a safe and healthy environment for its residents, has made moves to decongest its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, as part of efforts to ensure that residents of the state maintain and respect social distancing while commuting across the state.
According to Fola Tinubu, the Managing Director of Primero Transport Services Ltd., operators of the BRT, only 20 passengers would be conveyed to various destinations at a time, while the commuters are expected to wear face masks and get their hands sanitized before boarding the vehicles.
He said:
We are going to carry only 20 passengers per bus, the 21st person on the bus will be the driver starting from Monday.
We will space them zigzaggy; we will show them how to sit. We don’t want anybody to sit next to each other. There will be no air conditioner; we are going to open the windows to allow enough ventilation.
We will only be doing long distance; we will only be selling N200, N250 and N300 tickets. We will not be doing short distance of N100 or N150 stuff. So, anybody that wants to do short distance will have to pay for the long-distance.
We want to concentrate on the buses on the long-distance since we can only carry 20 people. We will not sell a ticket for a short distance at all.
Monday, April 4, marks the first time many Nigerians will return to work for the first time since President Muhammadu Buhari announced the lockdowns in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja.
See video:
New BRT seating arrangement… pic.twitter.com/V0Oh2oHols
— Emmy West (@on_min_yi) May 3, 2020