Primero Transport, (BRT), shuttling Ikorodu-CMS routes has slashed its fares by creating room for customers on a shorter distance to pay less. This in response to the outcry of passengers when it hiked its fare from Ikorodu to Marina to N300 from N200, and Ikorodu to Ojota to N200 from N100.
The Managing Director Primero Transport, Mr. Fola Tinubu said: “This new regime is fairer and cheaper for people embarking on shorter journeys which have been classified into five zones, with the first zone running from Ikorodu Garage to Mile 12. The second Zone runs from Ketu to Ojota new Garage and Zone 3 runs from Maryland to Fadeyi, and Zone 4 run from Jibowu to Oyingbo, and from Moshalashi to Costain, while Zone 5, runs from Otto-Iddo to TBS or CMS.
“The fare for Zone 1 is now N100, Zone 2 is N150, Zone 3, N200, Zone 4 N250 and Zone 5 N300. What this means is that while anyone going all the way to TBS or CMS from Ikorodu will still pay N300. Those not going beyond area classified as Zone 1, would pay only N100 and not N300 as hitherto. Those shuttling between Ikorodu and Ojota, which is in Zone 2, would now pay N150, compared to the N200 they hitherto pay.d.
With the new price zoning, Primero has adjusted and deferred to its customers who wanted a more realistic fare regime that would reflect the various distances on the corridor. This new price translates to a fall in our revenue for Primero, but we are not doing this for monetary gains but to make commuters comfortable and happy. “We did this knowing that since we are not in a monopolistic market, aggrieved customers may decide to patronize other operators on the corridor,” he said.
Tinubu said he looked forward to a surge in passenger traffic as a result of the new prices, adding that it is the best the firm could do under the difficult economic terrain which it operates. He said maps of the new cluster zones and their appropriate prices would be displayed at all its bus stops, while ticketers have been adequately trained to further enlighten passengers at the various bus stops along the corridor in order to help illiterate passengers who may be unable to read and interpret the maps.
Also, checkers would be at Mile 12, Maryland, Costain and Oyingbo, to check over riding, which had become a challenge for the company, Even though a N5,000 fine or the option of prosecution placed against over riding on any of its buses, no fewer than 50 offenders were apprehended daily.
The Operator carries about 160,000 passengers daily, while efforts are ongoing to raise this to 200,000 daily. It would soon commence e-ticketing on its corridor, a test run of the equipment has already started with the intention of fine-tuning the gray areas before deploying the service
Primero also intends to deploy 300 buses to the Abule-Egba-Oshodi BRT corridor when the road is delivered by the first quarter of next year. Presently, the firm has 434 buses on the Ikorodu-CMS route. Plans are already being put in place for a special purpose firm, YP Industries Limited, a partnership between Yutong Motor company of China and Primero to produce its buses in Nigeria.
“Our plan regarding the assembling of the buses is to commence in Ibadan, Oyo State before December. We would relocate the assembling plant in Lagos once we finish the construction,” he said.
Primero is committed to changing the paradigm of transportation in the state, adding that innovations, such as air-conditioning, on board television and installation of WiFi on all its buses, are part of the ways the firm is changing mass transit in the state.
