Lagos Mulls Mobile App for Traffic Jams

LAGOS State government is to launch mobile apps on different operating systems as part of traffic management plans for the state, according to Adulahmed Mustapha, director general, Lagos State Financial Systems Management Bureau.

Lagos, the major hub for businesses in Nigeria, is known for harrowing traffic situation.

Mustapha, who represented Akninwumi Ambode, executive governor of Lagos State at Institute of Information Management (IIM-Africa) public lecture/investiture 2015 held at the University of Lagos recently, spoke of the state’s resolve to use technology to tackle socio-economic challenges such as in transport, education, healthcare, among others.

“We are not leaving any stone unturned in our quest to use ICT in service delivery. With particular reference to traffic management, we have invited IBM to come for a proof of concept; now we are moving to a trial module.

“In other words, we are at different levels of our traffic management models. Therefore, the security cameras in Lagos will not just focus on crime; we are expanding the scope to monitoring traffic. The cameras will be integrated to the Traffic Radio too. So, the LTV will have segments (morning and evening) dedicated to traffic monitoring.

“We are going to be collecting a lot of data from that. To make it more friendly, we are working on mobile apps downloadable from AppleStore, Android or iOS. So that, if you want to leave from, probably, Ikeja to Island, you can monitor traffic situation and will be able to make informed decision.