Lagos Takes Students On Transport Education Tour

The Lagos State School Traffic Safety Advocacy Programme recently organised a transport education tour for the 18 finalists of the 2011 Be Road Friendly competition.

The BRF competition series is an integral part of the school traffic safety advocacy programme, a LASTMA Public Education and Enlightenment initiative, aimed at imbuing in children the right traffic safety values with a view to shaping their behaviour as road users and making them change agents and voice of communication.

The week-long tour saw the children visiting the Ministry of Transportation and other transport-related agencies, including Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, LAGBUS Asset Management, the Lagos State Drivers’ Institute, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA, Lagos State University School of Transport and the Lagos State Waterways Authority.

At each of the proposed agencies, they were enlightened on the operations and activities of the respective agencies and were given a guided tour around the facilities even going on rides on the LAGBUS and BRT buses and also the ferry services. At LAMATA, they visited the rail construction site and had the opportunity to ask questions and witness ongoing work.

According to the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Transport Education, Dr. Mariam Masha, the aim of the tour was to expose the BRF finalists to the various transport sectors that are available in Lagos State and the different roles they carry out in unlocking traffic gridlock, while further enlightening the students/pupils on the transformation in the transport sector in Lagos State.

The 2011 BRF competition began with an essay competition in March 2011 and over 6,000 entries were received from primary and secondary schools in Lagos State.