Following Lagos State Government approval on the increment of the BRT/LAGBUS fare across all the 60 routes plied by the BRT Franchisees in the state, the new fare regime has kicked off on March 1st, as approved by the His Excellency, Governor Akinwumi Ambode.
Commuters in Ikorodu Division and other parts of Lagos State had earlier pleaded with Governor Ambode to shelve the planned fare hike, saying it will compound the current economic challenge on the common man in the state. The new price regime, Ikorodu to Mile 12 now attracts N100, from N75, while Ikorodu to Fadeyi now goes for N200 from N120, while the trip to CMS from Ikorodu, which costs N195 before now, has gone up to N300.
The Lagos State Government had justified the fare hike on the Bus Rapid Transport system in the state, noting that the prevailing economic crunch in the country had shut up the transporters’ cost of operations by 110 per cent and inevitably necessitated the increment.
However, in his reaction to the increment, the Chairman of Lagos State Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Comrade Francis Ogunremi, described the move of the State Government’s decision to hike the fares during this period when Nigerians are going through economic hardship as “insensitive”, “wicked” and unGodly.
As at the time of filing this report, efforts to reach the PRO of Primero Transport Services Ltd, operators of the Blue BRT Bus Services for their reaction proved abortive.
