Users of the BRT transport say their mind on the increase in fares.
The Lagos State Government announced an increment in the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) transport fares on June 30, 2022 for all routes in Lagos. This was contained in a statement issued by the BRT operators, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and signed by its spokesperson, Kolawole Ojelabi. According to the statement, the new fares become effective on July 13, 2022. LAMATA had explained that the decision to increase the bus fares is due to the increase in the cost of fuel (diesel) and lack of spare parts to replace damaged components of the buses.
About a week after the increase in fares, some users of the BRT transport system in Lagos have expressed their view on the N100 increase. A printer, Mr. Saka Lawal, who resides in Ikorodu and works at Fadeyi area of Lagos, told the press that the state government should have listened to the opinion of the people before the final implementation. The regular BRT passenger revealed that they (the commuters) had been discussing with the government via their WhatsApp platform for more than a month before the final outcome.
“We increase the fares because of the harsh economic realities”.
Effective 13 July, BRT fares from Ikorodu to TBS now costs N600 from the previous N500, from Berger to Ajah now costs N700 from N600, from Oshodi to Abule-Egba now costs N450 from N350, and from Abule-Egba, CMS-Obalende now costs N600. LAMATA explained that they increased the fares because the economic realities have not been favorable to their operations. Their spokesperson laments the exorbitant price of pump fuel and its continued rise as well as the lack of spare parts for the long buses.
“Operations of the transport scheme, of late, had been hampered due to rising cost of input required for sustainable service offering and the attendant high number of buses out of operation as a result of the lack of spare parts,” the transport agency’s spokesperson said. “For instance, the exponential increase in the pump price of diesel from N187 to N830 per liter between August 2020 and June 2022 had greatly affected the optimal performance of the bus operating companies, leading to the withdrawal of buses from operation and longer waiting time at bus stations.”
More commuters complain about the increase in fares.
Mr. Lawal further told the press that the fare was too much to some and people fear that other commercial buses would follow suit and increase their prices. He urged the state government to provide additional buses, especially at Ikorodu, to solve the problem of long queues which make many to arrive late at their office every day. “We understand that diesel is costly and not available at some filling stations, but the government should upgrade their standard and reduce queues at various bus stops of BRT,” he said.
Another commuter, Mr. Johnson Adewale, who is a banker on Lagos Island, opined that the N100 increment was reasonable. However, he noted that there should be more buses to reduce crowd at the bus stops to the bare minimum. Yet another commuter, Miss Toyin Ayilara, a trader who plies the Abule-Egba-Oshodi route, said that the increase in fares would affect her daily transport budget. She also urged the government to procure more buses to ease the crowd.
“I waited on the queue for three hours,” BRT commuter.
A rug seller at Itire area of Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos, Mr. Yekini Sanusi said that he had purchased a N600 BRT top-up on the Cowry card but ended up boarding other commercial buses after waiting on the queue for three hours. “We are not satisfied with the increment. It used to be N300 from Ikorodu to CMS or Costain during the heat of COVID-19 [pandemic], but it was increased to N500 while observing social distancing. After the period, the government refused to reduce the fare and increase the numbers of the buses, and now they increased fare by N100,” he said.
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I strongly believe increase in BRT fares is just to make more money for the government for their campaign in 2023 elections why increase without consulting the people and putting them into consideration,things are not working well at all,Lagos State government should have a rethink.
The situation of bus fare increase in Lagos state is not surprising to me. Giving that everything is costly in Lagos. BRT is not running efficiently and this increase comes at a very wrong time for riders. Inflation rate is very high and wages are stagnant. The people should have rebel this decision by not using the BRT for at least 1month to test the faith of the govt if they could reverse the decision made. We citizens most learn to stand together and combat govt inflation rate.
The provision of government utility all over the world is to reduce financial and stress people pass through in getting such product,but in Nigeria you will have the money yet you wouldn’t get the service.BRT suppose to be cheaper than individual bus but no way and the service is very poor.
I thought one of the purpose of BRT is to provide a cheaper transport option for people. Despite the recent increase in price, which almost has no significant difference with regular public transport, the bus still get overloaded. People still stand and get packed like sardines, there’s still limited availability of buses.
The increasement of price on the BRT are inconvenient for the people this bus is expect to be cheaper than normal bus so if the price is increase it will not be affordable by the people things should be done in other to return it back to regular price
People transport which is cheaper is now high it will be inconvenient for the people in Lagos because this transport is the cheapest one that people are still able to afford why increasing it, something should be done in other to less the struggle of the people
Everything has just increased. The BRT fares increased, fuel prices has also increased, yet the average salary of civil servant has not increased. The people continue to bear the brunt of the harsh economy realities. Nigeria really needs serious and competent leaders. Even the money LAMATA has been generating, what is it being used for? These leaders lack Accountability.
Our economy worsens, and people suffer. The fare hike will affect commuters who take the BRT daily after the bike ban in some areas, it will really cause more difficulty to the people.
BRT was suppose to make things easier for people but with the massive increase it makes things even worst for there user and also Nigeria really need a serious leader to govern us
This rise and increase in transport fares are not only happening in Lagos; it’s also happening here in Abuja, showing the state our country is turning to.
Honestly, everything is on the rise so I won’t blame them completely for the increase , but considering the fact that Lagos State owned the transport company and it is not private organization,this was meant to ease the cost of transportation and movement for commuters especially the civil servants.What we have now is almost like boarding a commercial vehicle no difference.
Government is just adding more problems to the already tensed situation of the country by increase the BRT transport fare for the commuters, why increase the standard of living of the masses making live difficult for them? This is Lagos State owned transportation for crying out loud. Lagos State please rethink on your decision and return the price to it initially price. Also consider the point made by Mr. Yekini Sanusi of your increase from #300 to #600 between 2020 and 2023 for Oshodi to Isolo.
BRT is a public transport owned the by government and not private.
At least looking at the situation of the country, they should have maintained the former fee and not add to it.
But most of those things are done for profit not considering the betterment of its people.
There are some countries that have free transport systems and they are fine.
BRT is a public good and it should be available at cheaper price. The government is currently blaming the economy for the increase in price of diesel like it’s not as result of their incompetence that we have a bad economy.
Hope they will increase the salary of their workers. Anyway we are in a country where government do Whatever they like. God will see us through
Nigerian government is actually the worst government ever. They should be ashamed of this act of increasing BRT fares. This increase in price of inputs is as a result of their bad government.they should perform their duties well and find solution to the country’s economy instead of making people pay for their incompetence.
BRT suppose to be cheaper than individual bus but no way and the service is very poor.
It is not running efficiently and this increase is happening at a very wrong time for passengers.This increase in price of inputs is as a result of their bad government. They should perform their duties well and find solution to the country’s economy instead of making people pay for their incompetence.
If BRT is increasing their fares, then there will be no difference between them and the random privately owned commercial buses. The main purpose of this BRT is to ensure that everyone can board a bus at a cheaper price which they are obviously going against now.
Who would have known that even government will complain of increase in price of fuel, shame on them , that’s just to show how bad they are. Asides the increase in fares there are not even enough buses on ground for people to board. This government should just find solution to all this problems
The government should be able to regulate prices and the cost of transportation for people to make things easier for us. this isn’t good
People are already finding things difficult in the country, Sanwo Olu should not add BRT fares to our list of issues too; he should pity us now.
Apart from this spike in the price f BRT fares, another major issue is the long queue and delay before someone finally gets to board the bus; our government has to solve this fast cause it is affecting us a lot.
Because of the ridiculously high cost of gasoline at the pump and the steady increase in that cost, I can’t say that I blame Lamata for this.
There is a shortage of replacement parts to replace the components of some buses that have been damaged; there are not very many buses that are operational and readily available, which is why there are long queues at BRT stations.
People are getting to work late and always get home late because of BRT. The government should work on this because it’s too stressful for Lagosians
The Lagos state government should provide more buses and funds for Lamata so they can function properly and smoothly without inconvenienting the people.