Nigerians paid more fares for Okada, buses, others in March – Report reveals

Nigerians paid more for transportation fares in March than the previous month – February across various parts of the country, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed.

NBS disclosed this in a report titled ‘Transport Fare Watch (MARCH 2022)’ which it published on Monday.

It added that the report presents the watch for last month covering various categories of the transport sector.

According to the agency, these include 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, also known as okada, and waterway passenger transport.

“The average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey, increased by 4.43 per cent on a month-on-month from N44,825.04 in February 2022 to N 46,810.62 in March 2022,” the report said. “On a year-on-year, the fare rose by 28.26 per cent (N36,495.41) in March 2021.

“The average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop rose to N3,270.94 in March 2022, indicating an increase of 5.29 per cent on a month-on-month compared to the value of N3,106.72 in February 2022. The fare, however, rose by 35.65 per cent (N2,411.29) on a year-on-year, in March 2021.”

The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop, the report revealed, increased by 4.41 per cent on a month-on-month from N513.72 in February 2022 to N536.35 in March 2022.

In terms of year-on-year, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop rose by 42.17 per cent from N 377.27 in March 2021 to N536.35 in March 2022.

“In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for journey by motorcycle per drop increased by 4.22 per cent on month-on-month from N379.12 in February 2022 to N395.12 in March 2022,” the report added. “Also, in terms of year-on-year, the fare rose by 45.57 percent from N 271.44 in March 2021 to N395.12 in March 2022.

“The average fare paid for water transport (waterway passenger transportation) in March 2022 dropped to N 890.03 showing a decrease of 2.53 per cent on month-on-month from N 913.13 in February 2022. On year-on-year, the fare rose by 10.10 per cent from N 808.38 in March 2021 to N890.03 in March 2022.”