The average cost of bus transportation within Nigerian cities has recorded a staggering 98% increase within the span of a single month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The surge in costs can be attributed to the rise in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), following the removal of subsidy by President Bola Tinubu.
The policy eventually led to the jump in the price of the commodity from N198/litre to over N500/litre on May 30, 2023 and later surged to N617/litre on the July 18.
According to figures obtained from the Transport Fare Watch report of the NBS for June 2023, the cost of intra-city bus transportation rose by 98 per cent or N636 within one month.
It said this included the breakdown of bus journeys within the cities per drop constant route; bus journey intercity (state route) charge per person amongst other means of transportation.
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On a year-on-year basis, it said bus fares rose by 120.63 per cent from N582.61 paid by commuters in June 2022.
The average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop rose to N5,686.49 in June 2023 compared to N4,002.16 in May 2023 indicating an increase of 42.09 per cent on a month-on-month basis.
The report read, “The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop increased by 97.88 per cent from N649.59 in May 2023 to N1,285.41 in June 2023. On a year-on-year basis, it rose by 120.63 per cent from N582.61 in June 2022.
“In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop rose to N5,686.49 in June 2023, indicating an increase of 42.09 on a month-on-month basis compared to N4,002.16 in May 2023. On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 55.25 per cent from N3,662.87 in June 2022.”