SOCIAL CONTEXT OF BRT USE AMONG WOMEN
ABSTRACT
The research study investigated “The Social Context of Bus Rapid Transit use among women in Lagos state”. Over the years, sustainable public
transport has being viewed as not just a technical issues or questions, but as an inevitable need. This stemmed on
the premise that, without adequate consideration of social benefits of public transport service sustainable
development cannot be realized. Even at the introduction of the Bus Rapid Transits in Lagos, there are still some
issues surrounding this transport system like queuing under the sun for quite a long time due to the number of people
who wants to make use of the system.
The general objective of this research work was to examine to so the social context of Bus Rapid Transit BRT bus
usage among women in Lagos State. Theories and research based on the socialization of female were used for this
research such as Social Cognitive Theory and Radical feminism theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey and made use of 400 questionnaire to carried out its research. The result of
the findings showed that women viewed the existence of Bus Rapid Transit to be effective for their daily routine which
has somewhat made them prefer Bus Rapid Transit to other public transport. It also reflected that there is a huge
significant difference in the number of women that patronize Bus Rapid Transit at specific times of the day,
From the study, it was concluded that women view Bus Rapid Transit as a useful and valuable asset to their social,
economic, family lives, from the conclusion the study recommended that; there is inadequate or low supply of BRT in
the city of Lagos, influx of private vehicles and motorcycles for commercial purpose, reinforced the opportunities for
criminal activities and the glaring population growth and importance of the city is in part responsible for the high
demand for public transport in the city.
Keywords: Public transport, Sustainable transport, Bus Rapid Transit
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Over the years, sustainable public transport has being viewed as not just a technical issues or questions, but as an
inevitable need. This stemmed on the premise that, without adequate consideration of social benefits of public
transport service sustainable development cannot be realized (Litman, 2008; Fujii; 2009; Sohail, 2005 and Enyedi,
2002). A sustainable transport system is one that, allows the basic access and development needs of individuals,
companies and societies to be met safely; in a manner to be consistent with human and ecosystem health, and to
promotes equality within and between successive generations; is affordable, operates fairly and efficiently, offers a
choice of transport mode, and supports a competitive economy, as well as balanced regional development and limits
emissions and waste within the planets ability to absorb them, uses renewable resources at or below their rates of
generation, and uses non-renewable resources at or below the rates of development of renewable substitutes, while
minimizing the impact on the use of land and the generation of noise”- (Centre for Sustainable Transportation, 2002)
In other words, sustainable transport cannot be said to be achieved if it is not coupled with an effective and efficient
programme that enhances livelihood of people. Sequel to this discourse, there is need for improved transport
infrastructural services as components required to achieve sustainable development. Interestingly, the significance of
transport sector towards achieving sustainable development and as a component of sustainability has been stressed
by scholars over the years. For instance, Owen, (1964), a renowned transport analyst, emphasized that “immobility
perpetuates poverty”. This connotes that, transportation have a resultant effects on almost every human being
especially women in the course of their daily activities. Thus, it is rare to conceive a situation over space where
transportation does not play a notable role in the life of any individual or society at large. Similar to this view, is the
assertion of Geerlings, Van and Ongkittikul (2005), that “the issue of transport is partly a derived effect of the fulfilling
of all sorts of needs, varying from economic needs to social needs whi.ch is our main focus”. This justified the fact
that, transportation is a “derived demand” and there is “no escape from transport”. Sustainable transport system according to Centre for Sustainable Transportation, (2002) forms a basic foundation
that facilitates movement of goods and services in the present generation and capable to take care of incoming
generations. In other words, it should be affordable, efficient, available, safe, and supports economic development. In
recent time, passionate interest is being given to transportation and gender (women) as a vital element of sustainable
development (Loukaitou-Siders, 2008; TRB; Anand and Tiwari 2006).
Lagos is a notable city in South West of Nigeria; covering about 335,000 ha (3,350sq.km), it occupies about 0.4 %
land area of Nigeria’s total land area.
However, relatively close to 608km or 17% out of the state’s land area is covered by rivers or water bodies. Lagos is a
promising commercial centre of Nigeria. It has a population of 9.1million (NPC, 2006), and it is the major urban
agglomeration state in the country. Also, it accommodates virtually all tribes of the country and often refers to as a
heterogeneous city.
Surprisingly, and despite the important roles of the state to the economic development of the country at large, the
state due to an array of reasons could not provide sustainable transportation services to commensurate with the rate
of population growth. Public transport in Lagos is witnessing a relatively drawback because of the increasing demand
for public transport services that outrage the supply and inadequate transport management in terms of policy
framework among others. Public transport problems according to scholars over the years can be traced to rapid
industrialization, unguided urbanization, collapsing infrastructure, inadequate supply and galloping demand.
Apart from these, transportation in Lagos is frustrating due to series of transport externalities that ranges from
congestion, discharge of ambient air pollution and accidents etc. Inefficient, unaffordable, inaccessible unreliable and
unsafe, crimes are disturbing issues grossly affecting public transport service in most Nigerian cities, particularly
Lagos. The notable effects of these situations are; overcrowding, prolong travel and waiting time among others.
Most recently, Bus Rapid Transit System was introduced by the Lagos State Government to motivate people towards
the use of public transport. An effective public transportation system in fast growing cities of the global south such as
Lagos may offer a potentially cost effective form of climate change mitigation whilst also contributing to socioeconomic livelihoods and the physical and mental wellbeing. Before 2008, Lagos was the only megacity in Africa
without any form of organised public transport. Due to the scale of this challenge, an effective transportation system
that can achieve the multiple objectives of efficiency, affordability and sustainability had to be introduced.
The Lagos Urban Transport Project (LUTP) popularly known as the Lagos Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project was
launched in 2008 by the Lagos state Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA). It is a scheme launched to
tackle traffic and transportation problems in the city of Lagos. Since the early 2000s, moving around Lagos for
commuters was a serious challenge because, by the turn of the century, Lagos had become the sixth largest and one
of the fastest growing cities in the world, struggling with an unreliable public transportation system. Lagosians relied
for their mobility on a fleet of about 75,000 privately-operated ‘danfo’ (minibuses), together with a smaller numbers of
midi-buses called ‘molue’ and ‘kabu-kabu’ (taxis) run mostly by individual operators. With close to sixteen million bus
trips made daily in the city, traffic congestion is rife and public transport often costs commuters over 30 percent of
their disposable income. A lack of planning and management capacity contributed to the poor level of urban transport
services. The Lagos Urban Transport Project (LUTP) was designed with the objective to enhance the efficiency of the
transport network in such a way that it contributes measurably to poverty reduction, and to sustainably improve the
sector’s management capacity.
The flagship project was the Lagos Bus Rapid Transit BRT service. It was introduced as a bus-based mass transit
system that delivers a fast, comfortable and cost-effective service. Through the provision of exclusive right-of-way
lanes and excellence in customer service, BRT essentially emulates the performance and amenity characteristics of a
modern rail-based transit system, but at a fraction of the cost.
In the last five years of operations, the BRT system has moved more than 400 million passengers. The Lagos Urban
Transport Project LUTP Following the huge success of the first phase of the project concrete plans are in place to
extend the project along 8 new corridors in the state in few years time.
Cities all over the world are characterized with high level of accumulation and concentration of social and economic
activities and are complex spatial structures that are supported by transport systems. In Nigeria, there is a great
predominance of buses over rail-based technologies in the provision of transit services. The operation of Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) is mostly private, with fares covering vehicle capital and operating costs. As cities attempt to address
their social problems ranging from traffic congestion to road safety and environmental issues, the alternative
transportation options have grown in recent years to include Bus Rapid Transit System which combines the most
popular features of rail with the flexibility and cost advantages of roadway transit. Hence, in a bid to tackle such
problems, the Lagos State Government introduced the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) through private partnership.
The difference between a bus system and Bus Rapid Transit BRT is that, Bus Rapid Transit BRT operates longer
buses on dedicated bus lanes thereby making passengers get a regular, faster and congestion-free drive. It is
pertinent to stress here that, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been adjudged by transport planners and policy makers all
over the world at providing quality urban transportation services as it will help in tackling the huge public transport and
pollution predicaments that besiege the city, thereby, enhancing good transportation quality and an improvement in
the standard of living of the commuters. Moreso, Bus Rapid Transit BRT system is a relatively new mode of public
transit in Lagos, and despite a gap in literature and a lack of documented case studies on transit impact, the
emergence of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has provided a unique opportunity to change negative perceptions regarding
public transit in Lagos State. A significant advantage of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) over regular bus service is that Bus
Rapid Transit BRT vehicles can carry more passengers than an ordinary bus. Also marketing campaign for Bus Rapid
Transit BRT has helped to detach itself from the common stigmatism of “dirty, bumpy” buses, and is beginning to pay
off with increases in ridership in Lagos Metropolis.
Women constitute an important proportion of the general population in the World. In most developing countries like
Nigeria, gender dimensions of transportation planning and management have been one of the least considered
aspects of urban transportation and development. Harassment, sexual assault and loss of property are huge threat
faced by women when using public transportation and transport infrastructure in cities. Hundreds of thousands of
women in Nigeria cities and other developing countries lack reasonable access to adequate supply of safe public
transportation services (Odufuwa, 2007; Oyesiku, et al; 2002; Lynch, et al; 1988). The problem manifest in countless
cities in Nigeria, literature shows that, most Third World cities in regards to public transportation offer little or no
perspectives for women (Fernando, et al; 2002; World Bank, 2001 and Transport Research Board, 2006), and the
general quality of life of women is substantially lower than the general population (Adereti, 2005 and Rakodi, et al;
2002). However, getting to have the knowledge of this transport system, it is in the light of this that the study will
examine the social context of usage BRT among women in Lagos metropolis.
SOCIAL CONTEXT OF BRT USE AMONG WOMEN