Dosumu commended the effort of Sanwo-Olu but said the reduction in fares would have minimal effect in the state because of its huge population.
Some commuters in Lagos have commended the Lagos State Government for effecting the slash in fares on the Bus Rapid Transit scheme since Wednesday, describing it as a relief.
They spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos on Sunday.
Recall that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had on Monday announced that the state was effecting a 50 percent slash on fares on the BRT buses with effect from Wednesday, Aug. 2.
The move was to reduce the hardship faced by commuters in the aftermath of the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Sanwo-Olu had also said the yellow buses privately owned had also promised a 25 percent reduction on their fares from the same date.
A trader in the Orile area of Lagos, Jude Emeka, who sells furniture, said he spent more than N4,000 on transportation from Orile to Oko-Aafo to and fro, before Wednesday.
He said that since Wednesday, after the government directive on transportation reduction, however, he had been spending between ₦2,400 and ₦2,600 on the return journey daily.
Emeka said the reduction made things easier for him and commended the government on the move.
A teacher, Margaret Ajayi, who works in the Onipanu area and resides in Iyana Ipaja, commended the state government for reducing the fares to ₦350 instead of ₦600, which they paid before the slash.
She said it brought some relief, but asked the government to make good its promises on other palliatives.
A resident of Osho Street, Shomolu, Kayode Kalejaiye, said he sells keys in Lagos and his children’s school was also in the area, so he was able to monitor them after school.
“Since the subsidy removal, I had been taking my children to school thrice in a week due to a hike in transportation.
” I pray that the reduction in fares by the Lagos government continues, to enable me to take my children to school from Monday to Friday,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that commercial bus fares from Lagos to Mushin that used to cost ₦600 now ₦300, while government buses cost ₦250 from Ikorodu to Fadeyi, Ikeja, and Oshodi, down from ₦400 charged before.
NAN also observed that commercial buses had reduced their fares from Ikorodu to Oshodi to ₦400, from ₦700 paid earlier after the subsidy removal.
Meanwhile, Prof. Bamidele Badejo, of the Department of Geography, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, said that the reduction in fares by Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu was a good intervention.
He appealed to more commercial buses (Yellow Buses) to also make good their promise of a 25 percent reduction in transportation fares across Lagos.
Also speaking, Associate Professor, Victor Dosumu, of the Department of Transport Management, Ladoke Akintola University, (LAUTECH), commended the Federal Government for the removal of subsidy but said there was a need for refineries to reduce its impact on prices.
Dosumu commended the effort of Gov. Sanwo-Olu for cushioning the effect of subsidy removal but said the reduction in fares would have minimal effect on the state because of its huge population.
“I supported the subsidy removal but the government should return the pump price until Dangote and government refineries become operational.
“We can not rely on the Dangote refinery alone because it is a mark of monopoly,” Dosumu said.
Dosumu, however, pleaded with the Lagos State Government to release more government buses to enable Lagos residents to enjoy the reduction in fares.
Source: Pulse.ng
