Effects of Lagos road traffic congestion on business and people

Effects of Lagos road traffic congestion on business and people

Frequent Lagos roads traffic congestion has posed one of the big questions to many residents, visitors and tourists. The general long traffic congestion in the areas like Agege, Oshodi, Abule-Egba, Ikeja and some areas in Isolo is due to the on-going road construction activities. Apart from these areas above, the traffic congestion in Lagos has become daily experience Lagos. Even, the phenomenon is beyond the control of the Lagos State traffic Management Authority (LASTMA).

Lagos is the business heartbeat of Nigerian economy with major airport, sea ports terminals, corporate headquarters of many international organizations, businesses, banks, embassies and others. Majority of these activities occur in the metropolitan city. These are the features that attract over 20 million Nigeria populations to perform and engage in businesses in Lagos which result to daily inflow of vehicles on the road networks within the city.

In this article, I will be explaining various effects of Lagos roads traffic congestion on business and the people of Lagos. I will also proffer some solutions to minimize the effects on the business. First of all, let’s highlight the effects in order to discuss them in details.

Effects of road traffic congestion

• Delay in business appointments and schedule
• Delay in delivery for logistics
• Health degradation on people
• Possible delay in response on emergence cases
• Security threats to road users
• High cost of transportation

Delay in business appointments and schedule

Firstly, one of the effects of road traffic congestion in Lagos is the delay in appointments and schedule.  As the matter of fact, majority of people that operate business reside outside the boundaries of Lagos. Some people that work in Lagos island and mainland live in Ogun state (Ota, Ifo, Sagamu, Ikorodu axis and beyond). Without proper traffic management in place, it will result in either delay in daily resumption in offices or at market places.

Recently, a client has to cancel an appointment with my company operations team due to traffic congestion he encountered on this way in Lagos Island toward Apapa route. The delay caused most members of the team waste of transport fare and time to the venue.

Delay in delivery for logistics 

Logistics is the heartbeat behind cargo delivery both imported and local goods. Goods and services related business rely on logistics system. Moreover, the road traffic congestion will affect the schedule delivery pattern especially with e-commerce, cargo delivery services. Time of delivery is of great importance in logistics due to the fact that everyone depends on time to make decisions.

Furthermore, any slight delay in delivery due to road traffic congestion may result in cancellation of deals. It may result in additional cost on the delivery party.

 Health degradation on people

Majority of road users in Lagos are having issues with their health. Some of the people may not know because they don’t have time to go for medical checkup at hospitals. I will highlight the cause of Lagos roads traffic congestion on health degradation people. Inadequate sleep time for commuters and road users because they have to wake early to avoid traffic, this often result to low performance, fatigue and tiredness at places of work.

Possible delay in response on emergence cases

There may be delay in response to emergence cases like fire out-break, medical attention, natural disasters like flood. The emergency response team may not be able to access to the location of the event due to traffic congestion on the route. Most of the times, many casualties may occur if no access is available to rescue the victims on the spot.

Security threats to road users

Many security threats have been placed on both drivers and passengers in the routes were traffic congestion occur not to mention other road users. The threats on the road users such as thefts of cars, valuable properties in the vehicles may occur when there is slow movement of vehicles. At times, armed robbery events may occur coupled with the loss of lives in the course of operations of the bad people.

High cost of transportation

Moreover, the heart of urban and rural business is transportation. It is the system that connect roads users, the manufacturers to the consumers, suppliers to the buyers as well as government to her citizens. It is a platform that determines if any business will succeed.

The cost of transportation is always high in the urban cities most of the times, when there is traffic congestion because of the following:

1. Cost of fuel combustion in relation with the time in the traffic congestion.
2. Time wastage in the traffic congestion
3. Security threats in the course of traffic congestions.

Suggested solutions to minimize effects of traffic congestion on businesses

1. Use of GPS to analysis traffic situations on routes by the road users
2. Government should construct wider road network.
3. Government should provide alternative road network
4. More ways of transportation like light trains, secured ferry,
5. There should be frequent traffic report available for traffic users

In conclusion, traffic congestion always occurs if there is no proper management of traffic and poor maintenance of facilities. The government and individual needs to understand that free traffic is the best option for business and other aspect of life. Patience and sensitive response to any issues or fault on our road network will assist in relieving the stress of traffic congestion on road users.

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