Lagos in Nigeria has become the latest city to propose a cable car as a mode of mass urban transport in a scheme to be completed by 2015.
Ropeways Transport Limited has signed a franchise agreement with the (LAMATA) Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority and the Lagos State government, which will cover the project for 30 years.
Construction on the first phase of the cable car system will begin in November when towers, stations and the connecting cables will start to be put in place.
Once completed, passengers will be able to travel from Ijora to Iddo; Iddo to Adeniji; Apapa to Oluwole; Oluwole to Adeniji; Adeniji to Obalende; Obalende to Falomo; and Falomo to Victoria Island.
Captain Dago Olumide, Chief Executive Officer of Ropeways Transport Limited, said that the cable car network would help to solve the transport issues that are currently hampering Lagos and preventing its economic expansion.
He went on to say: "By complementing existing transport modes, the Lagos cable car transit system will play its part in reducing the traffic congestion in the city."
Lagos is expected to have 25 million inhabitants by the year 2015, meaning that the current 12 million daily passenger movements will increase by six per cent each year, putting added pressure on the existing transport infrastructure.
It can take those travelling to work by car within the city as long as three hours to complete the journey and 200,000 new vehicles are registered in Lagos State every year, Captain Olumide pointed out.
"Presently, there is need to ameliorate the existing congestion on the three bridges connecting Lagos Mainland to Lagos Island and to provide a link between Apapa and the Central Business District on Lagos Island, and also to link Victoria Island with the Central Business District of Lagos Island. These are what we hope to achieve with the launch of the cable transit system," he added.
Cable cars are increasingly being used as an everyday form of transport across the world, due to the fact that they are green and efficient, with one currently under construction in Brest in Brittany.
Posted by Nick Anderson
International Transport News and Sustainable Transport News
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