Your step by step guide to avoiding Lagos traffic
Lagos and traffic are like two nuts in a shell. You cannot have one without the other. Hailed as Nigeria’s largest and economic capital, the city is filled with people estimated to be more than 21 million. With this massive population, Lagos struggles to keep up with moving its residents around.
If a flight were to take off from Lagos to London the same time that a commuter in Ajah begins his journey to Iyana Ipaja, there are chances that the person on a flight to London will reach their destination before the Lagos commuter. It all depends on the amount of gridlock on the road on the given day.
In the days that now seem far gone, it was easier to just flag down an Okada or Keke and wiggle your way around the traffic. But with the recent ban of Okada and Keke from operating on major roads across the city, such ‘luxury’ no longer exists.
So if you want to avoid or beat the traffic in Lagos, here are some steps that will be most helpful.
Step 1: Wake up and leave home early
This is the classic advice that no one needs to remind any true Lagosian about. Waking up early and coming back late is ingrained in everyone’s psyche, else you’ll get on the road when everywhere is choked. Getting to work or an appointment too early is better than reaching too late.
Step 2: Use Google Maps to identify congested areas
Google Maps is not only used for navigating your way. It has a traffic estimation function that can tell you how much time you would spend on any route, as well as displaying the gridlock in the area. Having prior knowledge of where there’s traffic helps you from running into it.
Step 3: Consider living close to your workplace
You might be surprised that the amount of time you spend on traffic every day will be drastically reduced if you live closer to your workplace. According to research by JCDecaux Grace Lake Nigeria in 2018, Lagosians spend an average of 30 hours in traffic every week. Living close to your workplace will most likely take you out of that statistic.
Step 4: Always listen to traffic update radio while on the commute
Although Google Maps is great, a poor network connection can affect its functionality. You can bridge the possibility of being ‘fooled’ by technology by listening to traffic update radio stations like Lagos Traffic Radio 96.1.
Radio stations have people on the ground who report traffic situations in real-time and you can be sure that the information you’re receiving is valid.
Step 5: Try using a ferry service
If you can connect to your route through the water, you can try using a ferry service where available. Recently, Lagos state government and other private operators like Gboat have been making significant improvements to water commuting in the city.
Step 6: Always leave the office late
Rush hours are the worst in Lagos. You can chill at the office or somewhere around your workplace till later at night when the traffic has cleared up. Although there’s a security concern with this option, you can use your discretion to decipher if this works for you.
Step 7: Choose a reliable commute route
There are routes that are always congested no matter what. Finding free routes that you can always follow during your commute will help you beat Lagos traffic.
That’s it. Traffic congestion informs everyone’s decision about where to go when to leave and what to do in Lagos. So, after adhering to all these guides and the traffic still creep up on you, just keep calm and stay safe until the road is freed up.
