Why transport fare increases during yuletide – RTEAN members

By Hafsat Sani and Ahmed Ma’azu

Long traffic and rush among travelers during Christmas period have been identified as one of the major reasons for increment in transport fares.
This was disclosed in an interview with the chairman of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), in Jabi motor park, Abuja, Henry Ehigbochie.
He revealed that due to the large population of people travelling during festive periods, it usually results into much traffic on the road causing the vehicles to exhaust more fuel than usual.
He added that the population of people traveling within the period, mostly create rush among the travelers, results in drivers increasing the transport fare in order to meet up with the demands of the some security personnel on the roads, the park officials and the drivers themselves.
Speaking on the rampant rate of accidents during the festive period, he said that the drivers receive orientation especially when approaching such season on how they will limit their speed and also respect the traffic rules.
Consequently, Mustapha Usman, who is a driver at the motor park, disclosed that there is a high tendency of a slight rise in the fare as Christmas approaches, “a lot of people travel during that time, which means there will be scarcity of vehicles and sometimes scarcity of fuel”, he said.
Equally, Suleiman A. Bello, who is also a driver at the park, stated that the increment does not usually supersede N1000 at most. “Some add N300, N500 or N1000, depending on how hard the situation might be” he said.
According to a passenger who identified himself as Jibril, he said that as of the frequency he had travelled between Minna, Niger state capital, and Abuja, the transport fare has remained stable, even though he expressed fear that it might be increased ahead of the yuletide.
Jibril, who frequents the park, noted that the roads to the Minna has been bad, adding that the drivers drive gently on the highway.
Also speaking, another passenger, Julius Balogun, a student in Federal University of Technology, Minna, said he has no issue with any increase in the transport fare, adding that the fare has remained stable for now.