The Lagos State Government has launched the Interstate Park Accreditation and Passenger Manifest Digitization project, aimed at revolutionising interstate travel through improved safety, reliability and efficiency.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi launched the project on behalf of the government on Friday, November 8, 2024.
Speaking at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja, Osiyemi emphasised the importance of the project, stating that it is a commitment to the safety and comfort of every traveller who enters or exits Lagos by road.
Osiyemi highlighted the project’s core objectives as standardization of interstate parks across the state and the transformation of the passenger manifest system into a fully digital platform.
He added that the initiative consists of two primary components which he mentioned as Interstate Park Accreditation and Digital Passenger Manifest System.
According to him, the Interstate Park Accreditation will require all interstate parks in Lagos to undergo an accreditation process where parks that meet the Ministry of Transportation’s safety and service standards will be officially certified.
“These accredited parks will display distinctive signage, reassuring travellers that they are boarding from a secure and regulated facility,” Osiyemi said.
“Unregulated, roadside “mushroom” parks will be required to meet specific standards or make necessary improvements to operate.”
Speaking further, the commissioner said that the Digital Passenger Manifest System is moving from a paper-based manifest system to a digital platform which will enable the real-time capture and secure storage of passenger data.
He said this will provide immediate access to accurate passenger information in case of incidents, empowering emergency responders with critical information for swift action.
Osiyemi mentioned that established parks with existing systems will be integrated into the State’s centralised platform.
He said with the initiative, Lagosians can travel with confidence, park operators gain credibility and Lagos State can set new standards for modern and efficient transport systems.
Aligning with the objectives of the initiative, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa stated that the initiative is designed to ensure the safety and protection of Lagosians while also enabling the state to better plan for the flow of people entering and exiting Lagos.
He also assured that the set standard format for the parks will ensure good sanitation, effective security and non-availability of substances.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation, Olawale Musa noted that the current state of interstate parks requires improvement and reorganisation.
Musa emphasised that the government is mindful of data protection laws, assuring that any passenger information shared with the state will be kept confidential and not disclosed publicly.
the Managing Director, Touch and Pay, (TAP) technologies, the organisation responsible for implementing the project, Olamide Afolabi explained that agents at accredited parks will collect manifests and digitise them by verifying passengers’ phone numbers and National Identification Numbers (NIN).
Afolabi noted that information collected will be linked to the motor parks, the vehicle’s plate number and the driver through a unique identification code, saying the information will be connected to the Ministry of Transportation’s database.
He further mentioned that the initiative will also help the government phase out unregulated “mushroom” motor parks that have been posing threats to lives and property.
The State Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Comrade Usman Teslim praised the state government for this progressive initiative.
Teslim highlighted the successful collaboration between the Ministry, the consulting firm and the NURTW in making this transition from an analogue to a digital platform possible.
