The transportation system in Africa’s largest city (Lagos) is distinguished by a disorganized and largely unregulated system where demand surpasses supply.
Lagos is the second-largest city in Africa and the fastest-growing megacity in the world. The rapid population growth coupled with other factors is the major reason for the state of the transportation system in the City.
Transportation is predominantly provided by a fleet of privately operated minibusses popularly known as danfo together with a smaller number of midi-buses known as Molue, tricycles referred to as Keke Napep, motorcycles (Okada) and lastly the shared Taxis. The carrying capacity of the typical danfo and minibus is around 14-18 but the seats are locally modified to carry more passengers while Molue buses can seat 50.
These systems are characterized by poor safety standards, poor quality service, limited regulation, poorly maintained buses, poor security and incessant violation of traffic laws.
For a commuter heading to any destination, all he needs to do is show up at the bus stops and hop into any Molue or Danfo heading to his intended destination. The commuter has to pay very close attention to the chants of the bus conductor whose duty is to scream the destination of the bus to intending passengers. Poor listening and lack of attention can result in the commuter getting into the wrong bus and ending up in the wrong destination.
In some parts of the cities, a commuter can spend more than 3 hours in traffic on an oneway journey to work. For this reason, people wake up as early as 4 am to start their journey to work.
The motorcycles (okada) provide a quick fix to traffic problems as they can meander their way through traffics. This option is no longer available as this mode of transport has recently been banned from operating in the megacity.
