LAMATA Unveils 2050 Mobility Blueprint, Shifts Focus to Rail and Waterways
The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) has launched an ambitious long-term strategy to overhaul urban mobility, pivoting decisively from road construction to a fully integrated mass transit network. The updated Strategic Transport and Mobility Master Plan, which extends to 2050, places rail expansion, enhanced bus rapid transit, and structured ferry operations at the centre of the city’s future.
Speaking at a high-level stakeholders’ workshop supported by the French Development Agency (AFD), Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation Oluwaseun Osiyemi declared that road building alone can no longer solve the metropolis’ deepening congestion. He outlined a policy shift toward a coordinated ecosystem of multimodal services, anchored on expanded rail corridors, modernised BRT fleets running on cleaner energy, and reliable waterway operations, with stronger last-mile connectivity to improve access across the city.
LAMATA Managing Director Abimbola Akinajo underscored the urgency of the reforms, warning that Lagos’ population could swell to 45 million by 2050. With the city already recording over 20 million daily trips, she stressed that only a resilient, forward-looking transport framework could meet the scale of demand. Akinajo confirmed that work on the updated master plan is at an advanced stage, underpinned by comprehensive multimodal surveys and a new travel demand model to guide infrastructure investment and service delivery. She said sustained stakeholder input remains critical to refining a strategy that will serve the city’s long-term interests.
The workshop brought together senior figures from across the transport and economic planning sectors, including representatives of the Nigerian Railway Corporation and the Ogun State Ministry of Transportation, a sign of the regional dimension the mobility plan now assumes. Technical sessions were led by the ROM/AEC Consortium, with contributions from key ministries and agencies responsible for economic planning, urban development, infrastructure, and waterways management, signalling a coordinated push toward a more efficient, sustainable, and interconnected transport system for Africa’s largest city.