Across many parts of the world today, one of the safest places citizens and residents can be, is in the taxis that operate in their city.
The reason for this is simple. Those who run the Taxi system are not anonymous, they are all known. From small companies to individual owners, everybody is registered.
At this time of Global and National security challenge, our State refuses to lag behind.
We take a big step forward in the improvement of public safety by licensing and registering all taxi operators in our state today.
Parents and guardians should feel safe in the knowledge that their children are in taxis that are licenced.
We will feel confident in the knowledge that we can identify every taxi operator, whether by his company or as an individual.
In 2007, the Taxi system of public transport was a shadow of what it is today.
It was a business that had been run on a mere co-operative basis.
I salute the dedication of those who kept the business going, particularly the yellow cab operators. They gave our City-State a national and international identity.
But so much has happened since then.
By our strategic intervention and partnership, by providing support and guarantees for bank loans, many more taxi owners and operators have invested in the taxi system.
Apart from the yellow cabs, the Red Cabs, Metro taxi and many others have joined.
Our lifestyles have also changed. Instead of flagging down a taxi on the highway or going to the traditional taxi stands in order to get a taxi, many residents can sit in their home or location, call a taxi and wait for it to arrive to pick them up at any time of the day.
That is progress.
How many lives have been saved in emergencies by such calls and responses?
Remember what the past used to be like?
When we started installing street signs across Lagos, many wondered what was so important about them.
What the street signs have done in terms of emergencies in facilitating quick identification of streets and addresses in life threatening situations is difficult to quantify.
But in addition to emergency responses, they have also helped business; especially taxi service.
It is one thing to have a taxi service, it is another thing to have a telephone to call for service, but it is perhaps the most important for the taxi to locate the address. The street signs have provided the solution.
Today, we take a huge step forward.
We could not have come this far without the co-operation of the operators, which was the product of many meetings, some of which I personally chaired and others which the Honourable Commissioner of Transportation chaired.
I believe that I speak the minds of you the operators when I say that this is not a government programme but business support and protection policy in which you and Government are partners.
What we unveil today is licences have many impacts. One is security which I have dwelt on.
The other is economic sustainability. What this means is that transport, which is sometimes a last resort to many in difficult times, can now be a family business that can pass from generation to generation because it is now organised, regulated and modern.
Many families in other jurisdictions have been supported, sustained and educated on the income that comes from Taxi service.
The licence that attaches to the licence holder, instead of the vehicle, which is perishable, is now a lifetime asset. So even if the vehicle is stolen, destroyed or put out of service, the licence is registered in a register that is open to searches.
The licence can be sold, used to borrow money as collateral and it will appreciate with time in value, just as land and shares do. Holders can pass it on to their children.
Another benefit is consumer protection, in terms of insurance for their safety in taxis.
Today, 12,617 drivers, 10,882 vehicles will be part of the total databank of Taxi registry.
The taxi business in Lagos has a market worth of N20 billion and it is growing with more investors.
Because of the devaluation in the Naira and the prohibitive tariffs introduced for the purchase of new commercial vehicles, we have changed the eligibility of vehicles from … years to … years, in order not to exclude poorer operators who cannot afford brand new vehicles.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is now my distinct pleasure to launch the New Lagos Taxi System into a brighter, rewarding and prosperous business future.
From here, there are many add-ons including the use of technology and applications, call centres that will make access to the system more flexible, easy and reliable.
Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State
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