Taraba and Bauchi states have led states in intra-city bus fares for the month of April, according to the new Transport Fare Watch for April 2023 by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The report also revealed that Abuja and Adamawa led the chart in the inter-city chart for the month,
The report covers the average price of a bus journey within the city per drop constant route, bus journey intercity (state route) charge per person, airfare charge for specified routes single journey, journey by motorcycle (Okada) per drop, and waterway passenger transport.
The report further showed that Nigerians paid more for intracity bus transport in Taraba while for intercity, the highest was in Abuja.
The NBS noted, “On state profile analysis, Taraba State recorded the highest bus journey fare within the city (per drop constant route) with N870.00, followed by Bauchi with N802.00. On the other hand, Borno recorded the least average fare with N500.10, followed by Anambra with N515.11.
“For intercity bus travel (state route charged per person fare) in April 2023, the highest fare was recorded in Abuja with N6,205.00, followed by Adamawa with N5,725.17. The least fares were recorded in Kwara with N2,000.00, followed by Zamfara with N2,570.10.”
It was also noted that Kwara State had the highest motorcycle transport fare with N760.10, followed by Lagos with N750.06.
According to the report, while there was a very small decrease in the average cost of intra-state bus transportation on a month-by-month analysis, there was only an increase of 13.58 per cent based on an annual analysis.
It read, “The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop decreased by 0.01 per cent in April 2023 when N648.12 was recorded, from N648.16 in March 2023. On a year-on-year basis, the average fare paid rose by 13.58 per cent from N570.64 in April 2022.”
For interstate bus movement, there was a slight increase monthly and yearly.
The report noted, “In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop was N3,994.51 in April 2023, indicating an increase of 0.05 per cent on a month-on-month basis compared to the N3,992.36 recorded in March 2023. On a year-on-year basis, this rose by 12.30 per cent from N3,557.15 in April 2022.”
The same minimal increase was recorded for motorcycle rides in the country.
The NBS stated, “The average fare paid on Okada transportation was N462.29 in April 2023, which was 0.02 per cent higher than the rate recorded in March 2023 (N462.21). On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 8.31 per cent when compared with the April 2022 value of N426.84.”
There was also an increase in air transport and water transport, with only air transport recording a significant increase based on a year-by-year analysis.
On air transport, the report noted, “In air travel, the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey increased by 0.26 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N74,755.41 in March 2023 to N74,947.30 in April 2023. On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 35.04 per cent from N55,501.49 in April 2022.”
On water transport, it stated, “In addition, the average fare paid for water transport (waterway passenger transportation) in April 2023 stood at N1,030.83, showing a decline of 0.03 per cent from N1,031.12 in March 2023. On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 8.60 per cent from N949.23 in April 2022.”
President Bola Tinubu had affirmed during his swearing-in ceremony that his administration would not continue to pay subsidy on petroleum products.
He said the Federal Government was struggling to fund subsidies, noting that it was no longer justifiable to continue.
The development had triggered a hike in transport fares, while long queues resurfaced at fuel stations across Lagos, Abuja, Ilorin, Benin, Asaba, Port Harcourt, Kano, Makurdi and other major cities and urban areas.
