Newly Arrived Electric Buses Have No Engines, Radiators-LASG

 

The two newly arrived Electric buses

 

Fred Omotara, Lagos 

The Lagos State Government (LASG) have revealed some features of the two electric buses that just arrived the State BRT fleet recently, stating that the buses does not have engines or radiators like normal vehicles.

Inside one of the Electric buses

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 buses have three CCTV Cameras in it, and has a 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 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 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 has the ability to travel 280km at full charge, So don’t be afraid, the bus won’t get stuck on 3rd Mainland as speculated.

“Each Bus has three CCTV Cameras in it. It has a capacity to carry 40 Passengers and has room for standing too to accommodate more. There is also a ramp (for 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 set while there are plans to strategically place Universal Chargers at public places.

“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 vehicles 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 future in this our Lagos State.