The average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity increased by 4.98% from N2,240.66 in November 2020 to N2,532.19 in December 2020, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report for the month of December 2020.
According to the report, commuters in Abuja FCT (N4,415.73), Sokoto (N3,255.20), and Lagos (N3,250.60) paid the highest bus journey fare intercity while commuters in Bayelsa (N1,550.73), Bauchi (N1,600.70), and Akwa Ibom (N1,700.54) paid the lowest bus journey fare intercity.
Other key highlights of the report…
- The average airfare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey increased by 0.42% from N36,301.74 in November to N36,454.59 in December 2020.
- Passengers from Anambra (N38,700.00), Lagos (N38,550.00), Cross River (N38,500.00) paid the highest airfare were while passengers from Akwa Ibom (N32,600.00), Sokoto (N33,500.00), and Gombe (N34,750.00) paid the lowest airfare.
- The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city increased by 6.18% from N333.86 in November 2020 to N354.49 in December 2020, according to the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) report for the month of December 2020.
- Commuters in Zamfara (N600.50), Bauchi (N526.30), and Cross River (N458.07) paid the highest bus journey within the states whiles commuters in Abia (N200.50), Anambra (N242.23), and Borno (N243.12) paid the lowest bus journey fare within the city.
- The average fare paid by commuters for journey by motorcycle per drop increased by 6.14% from N276.38 in November 2020 to N293.36 in December 2020.
- Commuters in Niger (N1,575.70), Yobe (N397.45) and Imo (N397.42) paid the highest journey fare by motorcycle per drop while commuters in Adamawa (N80.40), Katsina (N130.25) and Kebbi (N146.25) paid the lowest journey fare by motorcycle per drop.
- The average fare paid by passengers for waterway transport increased by 0.19% from N756.84 in November 2020 to N758.27 in December 2020.
- Passengers in Delta (N2,300.35), Bayelsa (N2,240.00) and Rivers (N2,200.00) paid the highest fare by waterway passenger transport while passengers in Borno (N240.73), Gombe (N293.24) and Kebbi (N349.64) paid the lowest fare by water way passenger transport.
 Why this matters
Cost of transportation has been noted to account for the huge chunk of the budget for most lower/middle-class Nigerians and as well takes not less than 20% of their take-home pay packages.
The increase in transport cost for the month of December 2020 may not be unconnected with the yuletide seasons that come with an unusually high cost of goods and services.
