The cost of all Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Standard lines would increase, with Governor of Lagos State Mr. Babajide Sanwo-consent. Olu’s
Sanwo-Olu claims that there will be a N100 rise in the fares.
The price of a bus from Ikorodu to TBS has increased from N500 to N600, and the price from Berger to Ajah has increased from N600 to N700. The fee from Oshodi to Abule Egba would increase from N350 to N450, and the rate from Abule Egba to CMS-Obalende will be N600.
The hike is intended to ensure the viability of the BRT and standard route programs and will take effect on Wednesday, July 13, 2022.
The Governor in consenting to the fare increase also approved a proposal for a bailout for the bus operating companies (route franchise operators/concessionaires), in order to cushion the effect of the harsh operating environment, safeguard private partnership investment, and forestall the demise of formalised bus operations in the state.
In view of the economic situation, the government is also providing support for the Bus Operating Companies in view of the continuous increase in fuel price. This is to ensure that the increment to the passenger is kept to a minimum.
The fare increase notwithstanding, government noted that whatever support this would provide to the operators, it would still not cover the cost of fueling, thus likely to put the continued survival of the bus operations on a tight rein.
The Governor also approved the appeal by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) for the conversion of the current diesel buses in operation to the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) and a shift to economically viable and environmentally friendly mobility energy solution that are cost efficient and maximize operations cost such as electric vehicles, hydrogen buses and the development of hybrid energy sources as alternative fueling for the current Bus Reform Initiative (BRI) buses.
According to the request, “These measures are indispensable in the current global economic and environmental reality to ensure the sustainability of the BRI operation.”