The Lagos State Ministry for Transportation in its bid to modernize and further improve safety and security in the transport and mobility sector has introduced the Interstate Park Accreditation and Digital Manifest for Increased Passenger Safety.
According to the Commissioner in charge of the Ministry, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi in the briefing said “parks that meet (our) minimum safety and service standard will receive the Ministry of Transportation official certification. These certified parks will display a properly placed signage, assuring passengers that they are boarding from a park recognized and trusted by Lagos State.”
For the parks that fall short of these established standards, he went further to state that they will be required to improve. This will entail a provision of “devices and agents to digitize the manifest …. this will empower first responders with immediate access to essential passenger information allowing them to act quickly and accurately in emergencies”.
Why This is Important
Lagos State with the constant burden of a rising population is long overdue for a data-driven transportation sector. With a digitized manifest, we should expect to see an increased confidence in the public transportation infrastructure and an uptick in usage. This initiative is expected to revive and strengthen adjacent agencies and outfits like the LASEMA Response Unit (LRU) and the Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASAMBUS).
With time, and with a copious data at its disposal, the ministry and the state in extension, will be able to make policies intelligently and promptly influenced by data. Importantly, this is a positive signal to foreign investors to the segment as soon as modernization and digitization are embraced by users.
Our readers would recall few months ago, the Secretary of the State of California’s Department of Transport, Mr. Toks Omishakin visited the Lagos Blue Line and passed a vote of confidence in the public rail infrastructure by the Lagos State Government.
