Traffic Management: Transport Services Advocates for Policy Formulation

The Directorate of Road Transport Services, DRTS, of the Nigerian Federal  Capital Territory Administration, FCTA  has advocated for policy formulation and implementation in a bid to ensure effective regulation of road traffic management.

The Director of the Services,  Abdulateef Bello made the call in Abuja Nigeria’s capital immediately after he visited some of the VIO Commands where the impounded Vehicles, Tricycles and Motorcycles were kept.

The Director revealed that already the service is working with the Transportation Secretariat of the FCTA, which is in charge of policy formulation and implementation for the review.

Bello who hinted at that, the FCT Minister Barr. Nyesom Wike on assumption of office, observed some high levels of nuisances in various degrees in the city center and the entire territory and noted that the minister has read a riot act that, the territory must be clean of all these within a specified period.

Accordingly to him “We are aware that the city is a project and until when we have the mass transit in operation which will actually cater for numbers of people who need to leave the city to the suburbs and coming from the suburbs to work in the city, we will definitely continue to battle with a number of unregistered vehicles that are coming into the city because it is a function of demand and supply but I am sure in no time all these will be a thing of the past”. 

“We are waiting for the authority to give access to the review of our transport regulation which was done late last year but of course, all those offences have been reviewed and then their fines will be equally reviewed upwards. It is going to be weighing for those traffic offenders by the time they face mobile court, but I am sure it will serve as a deterrent. 

“We are now extending our coverage to reach out to agencies who are fond of parking vehicles on the green verge and walkways. I think with the shortest time possible, given the new energy provided by the honourable minister and the demonstration of the political way, of course, we will raid the city for all manners of traffic offences within the shortest time possible

“Arising from that, a joint task team was constituted with all the security agencies involved to clean the city and for the fact that this is the aspect that concerns us, we actually supported the team with our own task force and a number of vehicles were removed from the city. “, he added.

Bello hinted that, over 149 vehicles, 100 Tricycles and Motorcycles have been impounded for various traffic offenses and are to face mobile court which has been happening since yesterday to answer for their offenses.

His words: “As we know, this is something we have been doing over time. It is always revolving around parking in unauthorized areas, driving against traffic unregistered and unpainted and then operating an illegal taxi rank. So these are some of the offences which caused these vehicles to be removed. 

“I always advise that it’s cheaper to be on the side of the law to obey simple rules and regulations because what we have done is to ask them to operate within registered and defined taxi ranks and not to pick indiscriminately from the road corridors. 

“We have also told tricycle drivers to operate within the confines of the road plan, already agreed upon.  They are not supposed to come into the city, they are supposed to transport people that are going into estates and towards suburbs of the city but as long as they keep to the agreed simple rules and regulations then, of course, it will be cheaper for them. If they fail to comply, the fine will be used as a means of compelling them to obey the simple rules and regulations”.

Dominica Nwabufo