By Stanley Onyekwere
As part of its effort towards improving the public transport system in Abuja Metropolis, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will next year, before the end of the present administration introduce fixed taxi fares in the Territory.
The Secretary, FCT Transport Secretariat, Jonathan Achara Ivoke, who dropped the hint yesterday, said the essence of the fixing the taxi meter is to ensure a unified affordable taxi fare.
Answering questions from pressmen during its end of year media briefing, the Secretary noted that with the initiative, both taxi operators and commuters will not be shortchanged in anyway.
Explaining the criteria to be used to fix the fares, Ivoke said “What we are doing is just what is done in other cities all over the world; now study is going on. What they look at in those cities is kilometer, consumption of gas, etc.
“We will now sit down with the transporters and the people and discuss it; this is the way to fix taxi meters so that even the taxi owners will not be shortchanged. It is going to be fixed, affordable and standardized.”
He stressed that substantial progress is being made on all the six corridors or Lots of the Abuja Light Rail, as Public Private Partnership option is being explored to execute the project.
He reiterated that by the end of the year 2015, the rail transport will commence in the FCT.
Furthermore, Ivoke revealed that the FCT administration has commissioned six pedestrian bridges constructed in collaboration with the ministry of works.
He says “Pedestrian safety is very important that is why in 2013 FCT awarded two more of the bridges and we are going ahead to install another two, one in Nyanya near the park and the other behind Wuse market to reduce the traffic jam and for safety.”
He maintained that the secretariat was collaborating with other security agencies to address the issue of ripping off some of the wire barriers fixed by the roadside to make people use the available pedestrian bridges, when crossing the roads.
To this end, the Secretary said that from next year the secretariat will be focusing on lane discipline to enforce proper usage of the lanes by punishing lane indiscipline.
Expressing his dismay that four solar panels of the new 10 traffic light installed in the city have been vandalized, he noted that “the places where we have revamped traffic lights is constantly being vandalised.”
Similarly, while describing the usage of Kabu Kabu in the city as illegal, he stressed that the process of registration with the licensed operators is very easy, adding that however they have not, because they want to hide under cover to operate.
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