Fakoyejo Olalekan
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said residents of the South-West and North-East paid the highest intercity bus transport in May, as intercity average fare rises to N4,002.16.
It was learnt that the intercity bus transport fare increased year-on-year by 9.09 per cent in May, rising from the average N3,668.64 posted in the corresponding period last year.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThis was disclosed in the NBS report titled; Transport Fare Watch May 2023, which stated; “In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop in May 2023 was N4,002.16, indicating an increase of 0.19% on a month-on-month basis compared to the N3,994.51 recorded in April 2023. On a year-on-year basis, this rose by 9.09% from N3,668.64 in May 2022,” the NBS report reads.
In the report, NBS revealed the South-West had the highest average fare of N4,256.78, while the North-West recorded the least with N3,825.19.
“In terms of bus journey intercity, the South-West had the highest fare with N4,256.78, followed by the North-East with N4,154.38, while the North-West recorded the least with N3,825.19,” the report disclosed.
NBS mentioned Abuja as the state with the highest fare for intercity bus journeys, which cost each commuter N6,205.10, “For intercity bus travel (state route charged per person fare), the highest fare was recorded in Abuja with N6,205.10, followed by Adamawa with N5,725.14, while the least was recorded in Kwara with N2,000.00,” the report says.
Meanwhile, within the city bus transport fare also increased in May by 11.66 per cent year-on-year, from N581.79 in May 2022, to N649.59 in the same month this year.
“The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop increased by 0.23% in May 2023 when N649.59 was recorded relative to N648.12 in April 2023.
On a year-on-year basis, the average fare paid rose by 11.66% from N581.79 in May 2022,” the bureau noted in the transport fare watch report.
NBS added that: “analysis by zone showed that transport fares of bus journeys within the city in May 2023 recorded the highest in the North-East with N703.41, followed by the South-South with N660.75, while the South-East recorded the least with N617.14.”
Furthermore, the report said: “On state profile analysis, Taraba state recorded the highest bus journey fare within the city (per drop constant route) in May 2023 with N870.00, followed by Bauchi with N810.04, while Borno recorded the least with N510.14.”
