Commuters groan as hike in BRT fares kicks off today

It is not likely that most commuters who daily use the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and LAGBUS services in Lagos as their metropolis transportation mode would today do so in their usual high spirit as the hike in fares of those services kicks off this morning.  Under the new price regime, commuting in the BRT […]

It is not likely that most commuters who daily use the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and LAGBUS services in Lagos as their metropolis transportation mode would today do so in their usual high spirit as the hike in fares of those services kicks off this morning.

 Under the new price regime, commuting in the BRT (blue bus), operated by Primero Transport Services, from Ikorodu to Mile 12 will attract N100, up from N75. Similarly, the new fare from Ikorodu to Fadeyi will be N200 from N120, while that of Ikorodu to CMS goes up from N195 to N300.

 The various franchises under the LAGBUS (red) bus scheme have also increased fares for the 60 routes they are plying across the state.  

 Justifying the increases, the Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Engineer Abiodun Dabiri, said that the prevailing economic crunch has shut up the transporters’ cost of operations by 110 per cent and inevitably necessitated the increment.

 Dabiri said the state government recognized the financial difficulties residents in Lagos are going through and assured patrons of the two services of the commitment of the government to protecting them from arbitrary increases. 

“This review has become necessary in order to ensure that commuters continue to enjoy uninterrupted bus service as they go about their daily businesses,” Dabiri said.

  But not a few people in the state, both users and non-users alike of the services, shunned Dabiri’s excuses, saying the decision to increase fares in the blue and red buses was done in bad faith  without considering the pitiable financial condition of commuters.

 Urging Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to withdraw the increment in fares, the chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Francis Ogunremi, said the decision to hike the fares when the country was undergoing economic hardship was “insensitive, wicked, unGodly, draconian and further exposes the state government as being completely out of touch with the realities of the suffering of the masses of the state.” 

 Said Ogunremi: “It has become instructive to state that the BRT AND LAGBUS are monopolistic undertakings of some private individuals and money bags, who, contrary to fair practices, are unduly allocated a section of the public road to the detriment of other people in transport business.”

 To the unionist, the business was viable at even the old fares because of the monopoly he said they enjoy as the single largest transport system at the heart of Lagos. He added that the unilateral nature of the increment without due consultation with other stakeholders, including the TUC, to examine all the issues related to the increment was condemnable. 

 To Pastor Biodun Popoola, the chairman, Lagos state chapter of the Labour Party, the increases was “insensitive and malicious, and negates the APC promise of change.” 

Popoola said it was appalling that “at this point of our national dilemma, the APC government of Governor Ambode will, instead of proffering a buffer zone that is geared to building the economy of Lagos from the bottom up and running a government that addresses the welfare of the people, think of increasing bus fares used predominantly by the vulnerable, poor and needy.”

  He further declared: “We in the Labour Party, Lagos State, emphatically say ‘no’, as it is unfair and will further compound the deteriorating economic situation of Nigerians and workers in Lagos particularly at a time wages are stagnated even in Lagos State. We say with all emphasis that this fare hike is clearly unwarranted, and except the Lagos State government drops the idea, we will have no choice but join hands with the workers and align with other social forces to resist the new fares.”

 Some commuters who spoke with Eko Trust called on the state government to have a rethink and revert to the old price. A commuter at the Ikorodu garage, Babatunde Joshua, who is an HND accounting student at the Lagos State Polytechnic, said it was necessary for the state government to have a rethink and review the price downward.

 “The BRT buses are our saving grace because of the traffic on this road and the high fare charged by the yellow buses. If not for the red and blue buses, the yellow buses were charging like N500 from Ikorodu to CMS. It is a wrong decision in this time of economic crunch for the operators to think of increasing the price now,” Joshua said.

 Another commuter, Adeleye Moses, who lives at 15, Adeshina Okunfolu Street, Eyita-Ikorodu, faulted the decision of the government to approve the increment.

“The increment is too much. The government should have approved 5 to 10 per cent on each of the routes. For example, the N105 increment on the Ikorodu-CMS should not have been more than N50,” Moses said.

 Mr Abiodun Olayiwola, a vulcaniser at the Benson Bus Stop, opposite Ecobank in Ikorodu, said the increase in the transport fare would have an adverse effect on Lagosians due to the economic recession in the country.

 “Apart from the commuters that will be directly affected, the increment will also lead to the increase in the price of goods in the market,” he said.

 Okonkwo Emmanuel, a university student, said: “I don’t think there is any need for the increase in the fares due to the economic recession in the country. If there should be any genuine reasons for the increment, it should not be as high as effected.”

 Mrs. Ngozi Okafor, a trader, also said that the increment was unnecessary at this period when the masses are gnashing their teeth as a result of the high cost of food items. 

“We don’t need any fare increment now that everybody is complaining of a harsh economy. All the goods I sold at the  market today was not up to N2,000 and someone wants to add to our problems. Increment in BRT fares now is like adding more problem to our problems. The present price is okay,” she added.

 Mr Sheu Olatunji, a youth corp member serving in Lagos, implored the state government to revert to the old fare due to the economic recession in the country.

 “We all know that there is hike in the price of everything in the market now due to the economic recession in the country, so it will be better if the state government can retain the present fare. And if they want to increase the transport fare, it must not up to the proposed 50 per cent increment,” Olatunji added.

 However, Mrs. Adeola Adams, a civil servant who would not disclose where she said she works with the state government, said that the increment was necessary for effective running of the transport services.  

 Adebayo Deji, a printer with his shop on the Lagos Island, also contributed that less emphasis should be placed on the increment in the fares. Deji said more emphasis should be placed on how the bus operators can improve their services and satisfy their customers.

“I do not have any problem with the increment as far as I am getting the satisfaction for my money. If you look at it the charges are still better than what the yellow buses are charging,” Deji added.