With at least 20 million people moving around the megacity of Lagos, there is expectedly much need for a deliberate traffic routing system and that is what the Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) has been all about ever since residents entered July. Officials are carving out parking spaces so that motorists will be organised around churches, mosques and other sorts of public spaces but helping the people to understand seems a problem.

By October 2024, the city will begin a novel regulated on-street parking model which helps to deal with road congestion due to the chaotic manner in which motorists position their vehicles when they need to make short or long stops at a destination.

For example, Lagosians attending an event and needing to go into a hall where other guests have been gathered would get to slot in their rides in the sort of lay-by that the city would have provided and LASPA thinks that is the way to go.

A press statement released on Saturday, 20 July and was signed by the General Manager Mrs Adebisi Adelabu marked Ikeja, Surulere, Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Lekki, as the areas where the on-street parking initiative would be tested.

Colouring the lines with the statement can take away the confusion over what the model is truly all about. Doing this is tending to viral social media comments concerning a Lagos State Government idea that charges any vehicle owner when they park on specific streets.

To clarify the matter, LASPA wishes to emphasise that this information is inaccurate and does not reflect the true intent of our communication was the thought echoing Mrs Adelabu’s voice in the release two days ago. The Lagos State Government, she adds, is not imposing parking fees on churches or worshippers for parking on streets around religious institutions.

Instead, the government wants to assist the listed demography through a policy to mitigate parking-induced traffic congestion in Lagos.

Like many other major cities worldwide facing similar challenges, the statement further reads that Lagos is experiencing a high demand for parking spaces that exceeds the available supply. Therefore, we are adopting a regulated on-street parking model to better manage parking resources efficiently.

Earlier this year, the Governor approved the introduction of regulated on-street parking, which was announced during a stakeholders forum held on February 14, 2024, at the Lagos Marriott Hotel, Ikeja.

Being Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos is a natural crowd-puller because multiple entities meaning companies and national parastatals have their base here. The city can no longer run in sleep mode, which is why officials are coming up with unique innovations and also launching train services as fast as possible.

A wake-up call confirming that extra-needed attention ought to go to resolving navigation issues around Lagos came in the relentless rain of 3 July. Torrential downpours on this day caused flooding and henceforth the automatic shutdown of movement both for businesses and workers.

Ever since then, wary officials have been displaying urgency when it comes to keeping life going in Africa’s most populated city all through a very unpredictable 21st century needing countries and their citizens to work together to forestall the problems that will come.

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