The complete ban on mini-buses: A safer way to make the policy workable!

The new transport policy that started on Monday in the Federal Capital Territory gave some tears and pains to some of the Abuja residence particularly those who are coming in from Nasarawa State. Flash back to when this policy was first talked about by the people in charge, we were told and we verily believed that enough buses will be made available but those who passed through there on Monday and also yesterday said that it is very rough.

I know that some of you who will give your own opinion after reading this piece will ask that the government be giving more time, with argument that when development is to come into an environment that people will first of all have to suffer before they can enjoy. To certain level I agree with you but come to think of it, the government knew very well that June 3 is the date set aside for the policy to take effect, knowing fully well that the “planned” alternatives are not in place, why then did they went ahead with the enforcement of such policy? Was it so that the people could suffer? Those who stay in Nyanya will be in a better position to state their ordeals since the commencement of this policy. Long queues, very long queues were experienced in Nyanya area. A few of the bigger buses that came around were clustered with people, some hanging by the door and a large number of anxious individuals whom I guess has waited for very long time, sort for ways of joining the already over-filled bus in order to get to work on time.

The policy on ground is a very good one, but it has to be effective for it to serve its purpose of providing better transportation system to the people. In my opinion, what the government should do is to find a way of standardizing the transport system and not just throwing more buses on the street but making sure that there is a well defined and adhered rule guiding it. My proposition is simple and for what it worth, implementable. Since every one of those buses has numbers, the drivers should be assigned a location as I suppose they have already done but only that this time, they move according to a TIME schedule. Below is a demonstration of my proposition.

Bus Time for example, Kubwa Residence!

Arrival – 5:00am, 5:40am, 6:20am, 7:00am etc.

Departure – For 5:00am, 5:20am

For 6:20am, 6:40am

For 7:00am, 7:20am

Working with the sample time provided above, a bus coming from Kubwa MUST be at the bus-stop at exactly 5:00am and MUST leave at exactly 5:20am whether or not it’s filled because there will be other passengers waiting at the other bus-stops such as “Federal Housing bus-stop”, “Dutse bus-stop”, “Gwarimpa bus-stop” and what have you. Once the departure time for a particular bus reaches, the bus leaves, in that way, those who came after the bus has left will not worry much as they know that there will be an available bus for them at 5:40am, 6:20am, 7:00am and so on. The same system is applied to all other routes in the federal capital and by so doing there will be decongestion and a less hassle transport system in the country.

If the above plan or a more better one is followed and implemented stringently, then things will be a lot more easier for the masses as there will be less traffic since less car translate to less congestion, and faster speed for remaining motorists.

What is your opinion on this topic?