Who We Are
Lagos State, since its creation on 27th May 1967, has experienced gradual surge of humans and vehicles. The making of the state as the capital of Nigeria increased the surge of people into Lagos many of whom have found it difficult to relocate even after the capital moved to Abuja. Till date, Lagos still remains Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre and the nation’s economic hub.
The metropolitan nature of Lagos, with its ever-increasing population, has always had the challenge of traffic. Rural-urban migration, coupled with high vehicular density, which reached an all-time high of about 264 vehicles per square kilometer in 2016 with over 5million cars and two hundred thousand (200,000) commercial buses, meant that the city was locked down quite often. Chaotic scenes were the most appropriate term to describe the traffic at that time.
The surge has created attendant effect on infrastructure especially the road. Congestion and heavy traffic has become a regular feature on Lagos roads. The rippling effects of this chaotic traffic gridlock on the people and the economy is monumental. The associated stress is enormous while the loss on man hour has led to reduction in productivity.
Successive governments in Lagos have severally tried to unlock the perennial traffic congestion bedeviling the State, coming up with various ways of addressing the challenge. From “Odd and Even Car Rotation policy” in the 1970s, the provision of public transport vehicles in the mode of mini and medium sized mass transit buses, to the introduction of traffic managers like Lagos State Traffic Management Authority officials (LASTMA) to man the traffic and the provision of traffic signal-lights to effectively control the flow of traffic on the roads. Though the strategies put in place at different periods had marginal improvement of the situation, none of these interventions appeared to fully resolve the hydra-headed challenge of congestion in the State.
In early 2012, the government, after reflecting on the huge impact such congestions is having on the state, came to the conclusion that congestion and heavy traffic on Lagos roads must be eliminated.
The then Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) thus approved that a dedicated traffic radio be established to monitor and report traffic and improve safety matters in Lagos state. This is what led to the birth of Lagos Traffic Radio. The Station was commissioned on the 29th of May, 2012.
Lagos Traffic Radio 96.1FM is a prime radio station with a bias for traffic reportage. Its sole aim is to serve as an information disseminating channel for Lagosians on movement from one point to another.
Its mandate is to provide travel information to motorists. It has in recent years, expanded his tentacles in the coverage of all modes of transportation beyond just roads.
The station now reels out traffic updates every ten minutes to keep motorist and commuters abreast of new developments on our roads.
Also, it now broadcasts railway and flight schedules on a daily basis while giving updates on ferry movements on waterways and shipping positions.
By so doing, Lagos Traffic Radio is ensuring to fulfill its core mandate of covering all modes of transportation to guide Lagosians on their journeys.
VISION
To be the most reliable radio station providing traffic information in Africa
MISSION STATEMENT
To provide timely, accurate traffic information and travel advisory to commuters for enhanced productivity using modern technologies and a motivated workforce.
CORE VALUES
T – Timely
R – Reliable
A – Accurate
D – Dynamic
I – Innovative
O – Objective
- Establishment of the station on 29th May, 2012
- The LTR Annual Traffic Lecture Series was introduced in 2016
- Introduced the Don’t Drink and Drive Campaign in 2017
- The Station ramped up capacity for the fulfillment of its mandate via the social media in 2018
- Increased the frequency of its traffic updates from 15 to 10 minutes interval in 2018
- Expanded the horizon to cover other modes of transportation from January 2019
- LTR Bulletin, a quarterly in-house journal was introduced in 2019
- Commenced Live streaming of its programmes from January, 2020
- Introduced Live Motor Bike Reports to cater for incident-induced congestions in 2021
- Lagos Traffic Radio (LTR)/Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) Engagement in 2022 aimed at increasing capacity efficiency in fulfillment of our mandate of prompt and accurate traffic reportage to Lagosians. It also strengthens the partnership between the two agencies in the fulfillment of their mandate.
- LTR Live Camera Update (LCU) in 2023, a technology innovation that gives real-time traffic report through live feeds from CCTV cameras.