By Lucy Ogalue
Many residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have continued to lament high transportation fares, in spite recent interventions by the Federal Government.
The residents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that the cost of commuting within Abuja have remained beyond their reach.
According to them, fares on major routes across the city and satellite towns have remained high, forcing many workers, traders and students to spend a significant portion of their income on transportation.
Mr Suleiman Adamu, a civil servant who commutes from Kubwa to the Central Business District, said transport costs had remained high compared to previous years.
“About two years ago, I used to spend about N600 daily, but now it is over N1,500. Even with the CNG buses, nothing has really changed for us,” Adamu said.
NAN reports that the Federal Government recently introduced compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses in the FCT as part of efforts to reduce transport costs and ease commuters’ burden.
However, many residents said the buses were insufficient and were not addressing the scale of the problem.
Mrs Ngozi Eze, a trader who travels daily from Mararaba to Wuse Market, said she rarely saw the CNG buses on her route when she needed to use it.
“We had appealed to the government to ameliorate the high cost of transportation after the removal of subsidy and they (governement) promised us CNG buses.
“After waiting for so long, we now see a couple of the busses on some routes. But the fare is almost not much different from other commercial vehicles.
“It is either the queue is long to board the busses, or we end up paying high fares, which is not what we bargained for” Eze said.
Similarly, Mr Kenneth Nwaobi, a commercial worker living in Lugbe, said transport operators had continued to increase fares, citing fuel costs and vehicle maintenance.
“Whether fuel goes up or comes down, transport fares keep going up. The CNG buses have not reduced what we pay,” Nwaobi said.
Some residents lamented that the high transport fares had affected their productivity and quality of life.
Ms Agnes Bello, a private school teacher, said she now leaves home earlier and walks part of the distance to reduce transport expenses.
“Sometimes I trek from my house to the main road before boarding a vehicle because transport is taking too much of my salary.
“As you are aware, most private schools, which charge very high fees, do not pay their teachers commiserate salaries.
“So, I have to manage my income to be able to have enough money to take care of my other needs ,” Bello said.
A transport analyst, Mr Daniel Onyekachi, said while the introduction of CNG buses was a step in the right direction, it required proper scaling and route coverage to make impact.
“Until mass transit becomes accessible and affordable across all corridors, private operators will continue to dictate fares.
” The effort by the government in releasing CNG vehicles is commendable, but a lot still needs to be done to ensure easy movement of citizens.
“I urge the relevant authorities to expand affordable mass transit options and enforce fare regulations to ease the Abuja Residents Groan as Transport Fares Remain High in FCT