The Lagos State Government on Thursday unveiled plans to end indiscriminate parking by motorists on highways and streets, just as it spelt out punishments for offenders.
The government through its agency, Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA), hint newsmen in Lagos that illegal parking by motorists was impeding free flow of traffic in the state and preventing the government from delivering a world-class parking scheme for its citizenry.
Mrs. Adebisi Adelabu, the General Manager, LASPA, said that the State Government would be strict with the enforcement of the various parking violations by motorists, stressing that parking violations was one of the major challenges confronting the State Government and the state’s economy.
She , however, warned that the State Government could no longer fold its hands and allows the situation to deteriorate further, noting that there was the need for a holistic approach to tackle the challenge.
She stated that Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State had established LASPA in 2021 with the mandate of promoting the state’s parking policies in line with national transport policies by advancing knowledge, raising standard and assessment of related fees.
Adelabu emphasised that LASPA would provide an enabling environment for vehicle owners in a secured functional orderly and sustainable parking system management scheme.
She further explained that the agency is optimising the on and off-street parking supplies, setbacks options, registration of existing private parks operators to maximise urban public spaces in finding lasting solutions to parking-induced traffic.
She revealed that while the State Government was building and transforming the parking infrastructure within the metropolis, there was the need for the provision of available real-time parking information for city users planning to improve the overall quality of the parking system in the state.
According to her: “LASPA will achieve excellence in how Lagos state parking policies are envisioned, developed and in line with best global practices for a modern, efficient and sustainable managed parking system towards reducing congestion, disruption, improved road safety and changing travel behaviour.”
She listed various parking offences in the state to include: parking of commercial vehicles on streets, blocking an entrance or exit and walkway, parking on slots marked for public transport, fire service, ambulance, taxis and people with special needs.
Other offences are parking of vehicles on sidewalks, road median, whether paved or not, and parking of vehicles within three meters of a fire hydrant as well as parking of vehicles against the directional flow of traffic.
Adelabu called on all park operators; commercial and non-commercial to register with the agency for an operating permit from March 1, 2022.
Earlier, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, said the creation of LASPA became necessary in order to address the indiscriminate acts of motorists on the roads and at undesignated bus stops.
Oladeinde explained that in line with the first pillar of THEME’S Agenda, traffic management and transportation was key.
Therefore, parking space issues needed to be addressed to reduce travel time impeded upon by traffic and make the state a 21st-century running economy for its residents in the short and long term, the commissioner said.
Oladehinde maintained that the imbalance between parking demand and parking supply has been the main reason for the metropolis’ unregularised parking problems, hence the need for LASPA.
These, according to him, were contributing to traffic congestion, traffic accidents, and environmental pollution which the agency is fervently poised to address.
He said, the new Lagos State Parking policy is designed to decongest traffic, address climate change challenges, create job opportunities and also generate revenue for the state through issuance of parking tickets to defaulters.
