LAGOS STATE: $275M CABLE CAR PROJECT READY IN 2017

Work has finally started on the Lagos Cable Car project, the ambitious $275 million initiative to ease transportation difficulties in the State.

Dayo Mobereola, Lagos Commissioner for transportation in an interview with the Guardian said that upon completion, cable car project will have eight stations in three routes, in order to handle the estimated 240,000 trips daily.

The project is expected to be completed by 2017 and according to the owners, when completed the cable car route will start from Ijora to Apapa and Victoria Island.

The cable car project will use Adeniji Adele as its central hub.

Mobereola, said that “It is privately driven and the private sector need to get all the permits, on the side of Lagos, we have given them all the necessary permit, they are talking to the federal government to get some level of guarantees and we have assisted them to write to the federal government. They have taken the advantage by starting to build from the Iddo side of Lagos.”

The Lagos Cable car project is tied to the idea of the state’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT).

According to Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, (LAMATA), MRT can only directly serve part of the metropolitan area and in the short/medium term the MRT network will be relatively undeveloped. Hence, the development of MRT will need to be supported by complementary quality public transport networks, integrated with MRT.

The Lagos Cable Car Project is designed to deliver such a system.

Ropeways Transport Limited is the company behind the project. Ropeways Transport Limited is a Special Purpose Vehicle that seeks to deploy a Mass Urban Cable Propelled Transit system in the Lagos Metropolitan Area Called the “Lagos Sky Bus”.

According to Ropeways, the Project will serve as an affordable and reliable transportation alternative to the more than 12 million daily commuters in Lagos who are currently compelled to utilise articulated buses, motorcycles, ferries and private vehicles on severely congested roads within the Lagos Metropolis.

It is also expected to provide significant returns to investors and potentially reduce the carbon footprint in Central Lagos by up to 30%.

Source: Nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng