El-Rufai unveils BRT plan for Kaduna, promises to ease traffic congestion

Nasir el-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna, has launched the Bus Rapid Transit project in the state.

The governor said the project is supported by the French government through its Agency of Development (Agence Francaise De Developpement-AFD).

He said the project is led by the Kaduna State Transport Regulatory Authority (KADSTRA) in collaboration with Kaduna Transport Line.

“The French government kindly stepped in and through its development agency, AFD offered us a line of credit, a concessionary line of credit to finance this project,” he said.

“The government of France as well as the ambassador and her team for being patient and pushing very hard to get this project to this stage.

“Government will partner with the smaller bus operators and Kaduna state transport authority to carry most of the traffic of people coming to work and back home every day in the city of Kaduna.

“We hope with the success of this project, we will extend this to the Zaria metropolitan area and Kafanchan municipal area and gradually to all our  major towns and cities.”

On the plans to ease traffic in the state, el-Rufai said his administration considered rail transportation, adding that he had a three-prong plan for the state’s transportation system.

“We began to explore the possibility of having a light rail stretching from Rigachikun to Maraban Rido and we made progress securing financing from Indian Xing bank to the tune of 6 million dollars to execute that project,” he said.

“We engaged the famous French transportation consulting firm, Systra, to do the feasibility studies as well as engineering design for the project.

“The government has been unable to find an operator, someone that will operate the light rail when it is completed. And we think it is important to do that before we proceed.”

On her part, Emmanuelle Blatmann, the French ambassador, described the project as “ambitious”, saying it will serve as a source of reference to other states.

She said over 100,000 commuters will use the service daily. 

The ambassador said the Franco-Nigeria economic cooperation will further strengthen the relationship between Nigeria and France.