LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-According to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Transport Fare Watch, inter-city bus fares surged by over 20% in January.
In January 2024, the average fare for air passengers on specified routes increased by 20.53% year-on-year, reaching N89,975.68 from N74,648.65 in the same period of 2023.
This rise also represents a 5% increase from the previous month.
Furthermore, the report indicated that the expense of intercity bus trips, paid by commuters per drop, increased by 6.72% to N963.38 in January 2024, compared to N902.70 in December 2023.
The bureau highlighted that the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop rose by 0.94% to N650.70 in January compared to N644.66 in December 2023.
Year-on-year, this represented a 48.03% increase from N650.80 in January 2023.
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In January 2024, commuters paid an average fare of N7,577.03 for intercity bus journeys per drop, marking a 2.36% increase from N7,402.16 in December 2023.
Also, In January 2024, the average fare for Okada transportation stood at N456.22, marking an 8.69% increase from the previous month’s N419.73.
“On a year-on-year basis, the fare declined by 2.15 per cent when compared with January 2023 (N466.25),” the report stated.
Subsequently, Waterway passenger transportation experienced a 1.16% monthly increase in average fare, rising to N1,402.84 from N1,386.76.
Year-on-year, this marked a significant 35.82% surge from January 2023’s N1,032.84.
The removal of the petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu in May 2023 has notably affected transport fares across the country.