https://www.popsci.com/technology/lagos-light-rail-line/
"Travelers within Lagos, Nigeria, can finally board a light-rail line
connecting two busy regions of the world’s worst metropolis for traffic.
Although construction on Lagos’ Blue Line Rail began in 2009, years of funding
issues delayed officials’ intended 2011 launch date by over a decade. Now,
however, an estimated 150,000 commuters each day will be able to travel the
8-mile route in under 25 minutes—a stark improvement from the sometimes three
hour long journey the same distance takes on Lagos roadways.
With over 24 million residents, Lagos has long suffered from notorious traffic
issues. The Nigerian city’s infrastructure problems, greenhouse emissions, and
overall dissatisfaction with roadways repeatedly earned it the moniker of the
world’s worst region to travel—even when compared to similarly congested cities
such as Los Angeles and Delhi.
According to
Quartz, aspirations for a light rail line within Lagos date as
far back as 1983, but decades of funding and civic issues prevented the project
from moving forward. Meanwhile, the Lagos-based Danne Institute of Research
estimates traffic congestion annually results in a loss of over $5.2 billion
due to lost work hours from commuters spending a cumulative 14.1 million hours
on the road per day. The World Bank estimates Lagos residents spend more of
their household budgets on transportation costs than any other major African
city.
Construction for the $132 million endeavor finally completed earlier this year,
with official service starting on August 4. For the first two weeks, the Blue
Line Rail will run 12 trips per day before upping the daily total to 76. A
separate phase of the line will extend the total track line to roughly 17
miles, while Lagos intends to complete a Red Line Rail connecting eastern and
western sections of the city by the year’s end. According to Lagos Governor
Babajide Sanwo-Olu speaking via
Bloomberg, the second line is already 95
percent ready."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-abortion-mexico-vaccine-indonesia-conservation-alaska/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
