Commuters hail LASG on reduction in fares

Some commuters in Lagos have commended the Lagos State Government for the slash in fares on the Bus Rapid Transit scheme since Wednesday, describing it as a relief.

They spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos on Sunday.

Recall that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced on Monday that the state was imposing a 50 percent slash on fares on the BRT buses with effect from Wednesday, Aug. 2.

The move was to reduce the hardship faced by commuters in the aftermath of the removal of the gasoline subsidy.

Sanwo-Oluhad also said the privately owned yellow buses had also promised a 25 percent reduction ontheir fares from the same date.

A trader in the Orile area of Lagos, Mr. Jude Emeka, who sells furniture, said he spent more than N4,000 on transportation from Orile to Okoafo to and fro before Wednesday.

He said that since Wednesday, after the government's directive on transportation reduction, he had been spending between N2,400 and N2,600 on the return journey daily.

Emeka said the reduction made things easier for him and commended the government for the move.

A teacher, Mrs. Margret Ajayi, who works in the Onipan area and resides in Iyana Ipaja, commended the state government for reducing the fares to N350 instead of N600, which they paid before the slash.

She said it brought some relief but asked the government to make good on its promises on other palliatives.

A resident of Osho Street, Shomolu, Mr. Kayode Kalejaiye, said he sells keys in Lagos, and his children’s school was also in the area, so he was able to monitor them after school.

“Since the subsidy removal, I have been taking my children to school three times a week due to the hike in transportation.

”I pray that the reduction in fares by the Lagos government continues to enable me to take my children to school from Monday to Friday,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that commercial bus fares from Lagos to Mushin that used to cost N600 are now N300, while government buses cost N250 from Ikorodu to Fadeyi, Ikeja, and Oshodi, down from the N400 charged before.

NAN also observed that commercial buses had reduced their fares from Ikorodu to Oshodi to N400 from N700 paid earlier after the subsidy removal.

Meanwhile, Prof. Bamidele Badejo, of the Department of Geography, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ajowoye, said that the reduction in fares by Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu was a good intervention.

He appealed to more commercial buses (Yellow Buses) to also make good on their promise of a 25 percent reduction in transportation fares across Lagos.

Also speaking, Associate Professor Victor Dosumu of the Department of Transport Management, Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), commended the Federal Government for the removal of subsidies but said there was a need for refineries to reduce their impact on prices.

Dosumu commended the effort of Gov. Sanwo-Olu for cushioning the effect of subsidy removal but said the reduction in fares would have minimal effect in the state because of its huge population.

“I supported the subsidy removal, but the government should return the pump price until Dangote and government refineries become operational.

“We cannot rely on the Dangote refinery alone because it is a mark of monopoly,” Dosumu said.

Dosumu, however, pleaded with the Lagos State Government to release more government buses to enable Lagos residents to enjoy the reduction in fares.