The Federal Capital
Territory Administration (FCTA) has indicated plans to regulate and standardise transportation operation in the territory in line with international best practice.
The FCTA Secretary of Transport, Mr Jonathan Ivoke, made this known in an interview with The Tide source in Abuja.
Ivoke said that as part of the standardisation, a metre billing system would soon be introduced in all taxis in the FCT.
He said that the new system would clear ambiguity associated with bargaining between taxi drivers and passengers.
“The purpose is to determine the actual fare payable by commuters and the system will be uniform, so that all taxis will charge same fare for the same length of journey.’’
Ivoke said that the biodata of all taxi drivers would be displayed in their taxis to give commuters a sense of safety.
“The biodata capturing of taxi drivers in the FCT is ongoing at the secretariat and we urge all taxi drivers in the territory to make themselves available for the exercise.
“It is unlawful to operate unregistered taxis in the FCT, and data captured would be made available to all housing estates and to law enforcement agencies.
“This will enable the taxis to gain access to the estates.’’
He urged commuters to avoid patronising unpainted taxis as they have been banned in FCT, adding that a task force was in place to enforce the ban.
He, however, expressed concern that indiscipline exhibited by some drivers posed a challenge to evolving a successful transport blueprint and urged them to exercise decorum on the roads to preserve all road furniture.
“Road furniture like traffic lights, road signage, delineators and fence barriers should be respected and maintained by road users,’’ Ivoke said.