The Lagos State Government has revealed some features of the two electric buses that just arrived in the State BRT fleet recently, Oando to provide charging stations in Lagos public stations, the buses do not have engines or radiators like normal vehicles.

In a post on his Twitter handle on Monday, the Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on New Media, Mr. Jubril Gawat, said that the bus has three CCTV Cameras in it and has the capacity to carry 40 Passengers, including room for standing too to accommodate more passengers.

According to Jubril Gawat, “Governor of Lagos State, Mr @jidesanwoolu and @Oando_PLC announced the arrival of the first set of electric buses in Lagos, plenty of questions popped up. I went to the Lagos Bus Services Limited (@Lbslng) Office, Oshodi, to explore the buses myself.

“Recall that on April 28, 2022, Oando Clean Energy Limited (OCEL) & Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) signed an MoU to enable the deployment of Electric buses and other supporting infrastructure towards attaining a sustainable road transport system in Lagos State.

“Oando Clean Energy Limited is the renewable energy subsidiary of Oando Energy Resources (OER), their agenda is to meet the continent’s energy demands by harnessing renewable sources, & investing in climate-friendly and bankable energy projects in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

“The project is a commitment of both LASG and Oando to cut down greenhouse gases by replacing it with cleaner sources of energy. This initiative will accelerate the Government Transportation Agenda and positively impact the health of Lagosians and the environment in general.

“This initiative is still at the Pilot Stage, a lot of data gathering will still be done in comparison with the existing BRT system. This means a few electric buses will be added to the BRT fleet, it will carry passengers normally, use BRT Lane, Cowry card, etc.

“Information from Lagos Bus Services Limited (LBSL) shows that an average BRT uses about 200km per day (at maximum). The new Electric buses have the ability to travel 280km at full charge, So don’t be afraid, the bus won’t get stuck on 3^rd Mainland as speculated.

“Each Bus has three CCTV Cameras in it. It has the capacity to carry 40 Passengers and has room for standing too to accommodate more. There is also a ramp (for a wheelchair) for People Living with Disabilities (PWDs).

“The MoU signed with Oando shows they will provide charging stations & other supporting infrastructure. There will be charging stations at the LBSL Facility to charge these first sets while there are plans to place Universal Chargers in public places strategically.

“As Stated earlier, the buses being used for this Pilot Scheme will be moving from the normal Facility where BRTs are maintained, only basic maintenance will be needed (tyre change, etc.)The vehicle has no radiator or regular engines like the normal BRT bus.

“Once the Pilot Scheme shows all the positive signs as expected, asides from bringing more buses into the fleet of the regular BRTs, there are plans to establish an Assembly Plant for Electric Buses in the -future in this our Lagos State.” (Nigerian Tribune)

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