Yuletide: Transporters increase fares, lament “excessive” govt charges

Transporters in Kano’s new luxury bus park have attributed  what they termed “excessive government charges” as a factor contributing to the increase in transport fares in the state.

This is coming at a time when people are travelling to celebrate the yuletide with their families.

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An investigation by Chronicle at the new park located along Ring Road in the metropolis revealed that the fare from Kano to Lagos was N12,000 at the weekend but as at Monday it had been increased to N15,000.

However, despite the increase, it was observed that people were trooping to buy tickets and there were many busses ready to take off to Lagos and other places.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a staff at the park said the increase was largely as a result of the excessive charges from the state government and the price of fuel.

“The increase is necessary because Kano State Road Traffic Authority (KAROTA) is charging N500 per each passenger aside from the N2000 they collect per bus. If you calculate it will give N29,000 per bus since we carry 54 passengers,” he lamented.

A passenger, Amadu Mustapha, who was travelling to Lagos, said he was surprised that the price increased as he came to Kano from Lagos last week and paid N11,000 as the bus fare.

Meanwhile, all the luxurious bus companies, that have private parks along Zaria Road, have now relocated to the new station. A visit to their parks along Zaria road showed that they only sell tickets there.

Chronicle reports that the state government and the luxury bus owners had engaged in a running battle early in the year leading to the closure of all the parks, which resulted in the transporters temporarily relocating to Zaria in Kaduna state.

It was however gathered that the saga, which had led to the loss of a huge amount of revenue for the government and the transporters, had been settled out of court.

When contacted, the KAROTA Public Relations Officer, Nabulusi Abubakar Kofar Na’isa, said he was aware of the charges by the agency but that our reporter should contact the special adviser to the governor on motor parks for further comment.

However, the special adviser could not be reached as at the time of filing this report.