Evolving A Functional Intermodal Transportation System

By Sola Ogunmosunle 

It is no longer news that the Third Mainland Bridge, one of the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland, the other two being the Eko and Carter, is undergoing repairs. This bridge is the longest in Africa with an approximate length of 10 kilometres.

What is, however, new is the untold hardship and the colossal financial and manpower hours loss that the closure of this bridge and the resultant traffic snarls have brought upon the citizenry. Given the fact that Lagos Island is the financial hub of Nigeria, where the majority of the country’s financial institutions and multinational companies have their head offices and the plethora of busy markets located on the Island, it is therefore expected that any disruptions in the free flow of vehicular movement in and out of the Island will always bring chaos.

It is a well known fact that transportation is the pivot around which the wheel of every modern economy revolves. The efficiency with which people, goods and services can move from one point to the other largely determines the quality of life of the society. The attendant chaotic traffic that greeted the repair of the third mainland bridge has, therefore, made it imperative the need for a developed, functional and effective intermodal transportation system in Nigeria. Intermodal transportation system pertains to the availability of more than one form of transportation such as road, rail, air and water on a single journey.

Intermodal transportation is the movements of passengers or freight from one mode of transport to another, commonly taking place at a terminal specifically designed for such purpose. For instance, a good model of intermodal transportation should allow a commuter from Port Harcourt in Rivers state to Ile-Ife in Osun State to connect Lagos by water, and then connect Ibadan from Lagos by rail before making the final lap of the journey from Ibadan to Ile-Ife by road. It is obvious that this type of conveyance will definitely reduce travel time and cost.

Our over reliance on a poorly maintained and inadequate network of roads has been the bane of a developed transportation system in Nigeria. Our rail system has almost gone moribund due to lack of attention from successive government at the centre. At independence in 1960, over five decades of rail development by the British colonial rulers had provided over 3,000 kilometres of tracks. The last tracks were added way back in 1964 to raise the network to 3,506 kilometres. Its importance to the economy is reflected in the fact that, in 1961, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) moved three million tons of goods and 11 million passengers. Years of neglect, corruption and mismanagement had by 2004 reduced NRC to lifting only 60,000 of goods and 1.8 million passengers and less than 10,000 tons in 2007. Rail transportation clearly offers the best mode in mass transit.

One seventy-five foot wide rail corridor can carry the same number of persons per hour as a sixteen lane expressway. Rail travel is six times safer than highway travel and worldwide, the safest mode of all. Needed transportation capacity can be added to many corridors for a lower cost with modernized or new high speed rail. Trains consume less energy and emit fewer pollutants per passenger mile than most other forms of travel. Increased travel by rail stimulates economic activity and spurs private investment in urban areas and central business districts around rail stations. Rail is the most comfortable and enjoyable form of intercity travel. It allows more room and provides fewer restrictions on personal freedoms than other modes.

Even though only the coastal states can avail the opportunity that water transportation offers, most states in the coastal region have not been proactive enough to take that advantage by building jetties, dredging and clearing their waterways to encourage a private sector driven ferry services operation. Ferry operations have proven worldwide to be an effective and efficient tool in relieving road transport for both passengers and vehicle traffic. Water transport is well known as a very environmental friendly or “green” mode of transport and as such, water transport can offer a further solution for the ever growing transport demands in highly populated costal cities such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri and Yenagoa. In the less than two months of the repairs on the 3rd mainland bridge, about 3,350,000 passengers have been reportedly ferried through waterways in Lagos State.

With all the advantages that a well developed intermodal transportation system offers, it of great concern how successive governments in the country have ignored the need to evolve a transport system that can become a catalyst for our national socio-economic development. Given that transportation is on the concurrent list in our constitution, all levels of governments in the country must accept responsibility for the comatose state of our transportation system. After power sector, recent developments in other sectors such as telecommunications, health, education, agriculture, science, water resources and the oil industry have made this sector to depend on the performance of the transportation system. However, the imbalance in the development of infrastructure, population increase and rapid urbanisation has created a serious deficiency in the quality of life of an average Nigerian with its dire consequence on the movement of goods and services thus increasing the cost of production.  If as a nation, we desire to reduce carnage on our highways, cut the cost of production, stimulate economic growth and generally raise our living standards, then the time to act is now. The evolution of a functional intermodal transportation system must be part of the integrated approach to revitalise our economy.

The Lagos State template for transportation development can be emulated by other states. One vital key to the modest achievements of the state government in the sector is partnership with the private sector. This, it has demonstrated with the Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe Expressway (which was transformed into a modern highway by an investor under a build and operate model), the Bus Rapid Transit operation, reactivation of water transportation, the on-going redevelopment of the Badagry Expressway into a six lanes modern highway with BRT and light rail facilities, construction of bus terminals among others. As government secures more of these investments in the sector, it will be able to free up limited funds to accelerate development in other sectors that are not yet commercially attractive to investors.

The Federal Government must also consider repealing the 1955 Railway Act which gives the Nigerian Railway Corporation the monopoly on all railway issues in Nigeria. This will encourage the private sector, which has a better record for efficient management, to invest in the sector. It will also be the responsibility of every level of government to provide enabling environment for public/private partnership to thrive. One very vital way to achieve the much desired transformation in the country is the adoption of an integrated transport system by governments across the country. This, undoubtedly, will fast track economic growth in the country.

•Ogunmosunle is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.