The paper examines the causes of the perennial traffic congestion in Ikeja, Lagos
state using GIS. The acquired analogue maps (survey map of Ikeja of 1:25,000 and
1:2,000 scales) were converted to raster image and transformed into series of
picture elements (pixels) that are in form useable in the GIS platform. Attribute data
were also collected using GPS to take control points. From traffic records,
graphical display of the spatio-temporal pattern of traffic flow of the study area was
derived. Nine routes were identified to be major in bringing traffic to the study area
from different directions. The study identifies bus stops as major points enhancing
congestion with 39 bus stops against total road length of 18.3km, indicating
excessive distribution of bus stops. To stem the problem of congestion, twelve
alternative routes were identified in all.