The House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to resuscitate the defunct Urban Mass Transit Scheme.
This followed the adoption of a motion moved by Rep. Aniekan Umanah (PDP-Akwa-Ibom).
In his motion, he said that in 1989, the Federal Government established the Urban Mass Transit Scheme to address transportation challenges.
He said that some the objectives of the scheme were to moderate the national urban transit scheme, alleviate the suffering of urban commuters and lay the foundation for organised mass transit.
He said that the scheme helped to reduce the gap between increasing public transport demand and the decreasing supply in the transport market.
He noted that almost all states and local government councils and the FCT as well as private operators participated in the scheme which greatly improved transportation system.
Umanah said, however, that the scheme failed because of poor management and absence of strict processes, which weakened its sustainability.
“Millions of commuters across the country still experience difficulties in commuting due to insufficient mass transit vehicles thus exposing them to grave dangers,’’ he said.
The dangers according to him include harassment, kidnapping, and robbery among others.
The House, therefore, urged the Federal Government to review the mass transport policy and management with a view to making transportation affordable and accessible as a social right of all Nigerians.
It also mandated its Committee on Land Transport to liaise with relevant stakeholders to establish policy frameworks that would further improve the transportation sector.
The House gave the committee six weeks to submit its report for further legislative action.
