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Few years after introducing a transport policy which saw the emergence of high capacity buses and banning the activities of commercial mini-buses in Abuja city centre, the transport sector has run into many challenges. DAVID ADUGE-ANI writes that the challenges facing the Abuja urban mass transport, if not urgently addressed might collapse the entire FCT transport policy.
Today the popular Abuja buses, otherwise known as ‘el-Rufai buses’, are in serious crisis. Many of them are off the Abuja roads, as they are no longer plying major roads to convey passengers to their destinations. Hundreds of these buses are parked and are rotting away at its parking terminal located at Kubwa expressway, while Abuja commuters continue to yearn for better transport system to convey them to their destinations.
When LEADERSHIP Weekend visited the Kubwa expressway main yard, it was shocking to discover that so many of these high capacity buses have remained parked and unattended to for months and years. But what actually are the challenges facing the activities of this transport company?
Recall that the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company (AUMTCO) Limited was established in 2005 by the then FCT minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai to provide mass transport services to FCT residents. AUMTCO was introduced at the wake of the ban on commercial motorcycle operations, popularly called okada, and was also meant to replace hundreds of rickety mini buses that plied major routes in the city.
Investigation conducted by LEADERSHIP Weekend reveals that the decreasing number of AUMTCO buses on Abuja roads is as a result of poor maintenance culture, activities of unpainted taxis and mini buses and increasing cost of operation as well as the seeming gradual withdrawal of other private licensed operators from the transport scheme. The head, FCT Mass Transit department, Mr. Adewale Alebiosu told LEADERSHIP Weekend that AUMTCO has less than 250 buses operating in Abuja city as at today which, according to him, is as a result of the challenges facing the company. “When these buses were bought initially, AUMTCO had over 400 buses, while other licensed operators had about 100 buses. As at that time we had over 500 buses in FCT. But as at now we have less 250 operating now, because of the challenges AUMTCO is facing,” he said.
However the head, marketing and communication, AUMTCO, Tunde Akintola said, “We started with 192 buses and they added about 200 buses. At present we have functional 392 buses and we have about 200 buses on the streets. However, what is happening now is that we cannot deploy all the buses into the Abuja road because the environment is not conducive for operations”
Chairman, Painted Abuja Taxis (PAT), Comrade Shehu Shugaba Yar’Adua told our reporter that the increasing activities of Kabu Kabu and mini buses in FCT roads is because the high capacity buses are not there to serve Abuja commuters who are increasing by the day, while the buses are all grounded at the parking yards. Yar’Adua blamed the situation on the suppliers of the buses, which he said are all refurbished.” It is the same problem we have with SURE-P taxis which were supplied to our members, which today are all grounded that the Abuja Urban mass Transport Company (AUMTCO) Limited are facing”
The executive director, Accident Prevention and Rescue Initiative (APRI), Prince Fidelis Nnadi noted that the urban mass transport system in Abuja has not been successfully managed to meet the yearnings of Abuja commuters. “What we have today is not as was expected, considering that Abuja is a modern city that should have a well-managed transport system. As you know there are no bus stops in FCT. The roads are not constructed to accommodate the operations of mass transport system. The current buses that the urban mass have are nothing to write home about, as they are all broken down, with very few on the roads and commuters continue to suffer over lack of adequate transport system.” Nnadi attributed the dwindling fortunes of Abuja urban mass as a result of broken down of the buses to poor maintenance and also lack of political will to ensure that there is a successful transport system in the nation’s capital city.
However, Akintola told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the major challenge facing AUMTCO at the moment is that the environment is not conducive in the FCT to operate this urban mass transportation system. “You and I know that the way the transport system was planned initially was that the mini buses were supposed to feed the urban mass transport, from different out stations of FCT, such as Gwagwalada, Mararaba and Zuba among others. However we are not doing that anymore because the whole entrance points are now porous. We have a lot of unpainted taxis and buses operating everywhere on the roads at the moment there is no enforcement.
He continued: “Sometimes in 2012 when there was enforcement against the activities of buses and unpainted taxis, everywhere was clean. It is like a security threat because anybody can just pick anybody, especially with a lot of one chance everywhere and a lot of people missing every day. That is our major challenge.
Also there is no bus terminal and no scheduled routes. So that is why we cannot operate in that sort of atmospheric situation. We know that infrastructure is very important to run an effective transportation system and unless we have parks there will be a lot of problems. All over major cities in the world you don’t see a situation where taxis and buses pick passenger from point to the other except in Abuja. A lot of taxis and buses are everywhere and there is no where we can park our buses.”
He also disclosed that since the operations of the transport company no form of subsidy has been extended to the company. “We can’t even breakeven with the charge we collect on our routes from the passengers as at the moment. For instance in Gwagwalada our breakeven is about N200 but we charge N100. In Lugbe our breakeven is about N100 and we charge N50. That is why we still need the government to subsidize the cost. We know that all over the world government subsidizes the cost of transportation for the masses. There has never been any subsidy of buses at all from the government. We have always operated on our own.”
Mr. Alebiosu noted that the inability of the FCT administration to agree on subsidy has given way for more unpainted taxis and buses to operate in FCT “It is not that there has never been subsidy for the buses; it is only that we have not agreed on real subsidy that would enable the bus them operators to breakeven, so that with or without passenger they will be running their scheduled services. We are working on the modalities for the subsidy. Like I told you, because we have not agreed on the subsidy modalities, this has equally created a gap which has therefore turned every civil servant in Abuja to a commercial vehicle operator and we are going to start clamping on them very soon.” he said.
However Prince Nnadi advices government on the way forward: “The only means of improving the transport situation in Abuja is for new the FCT minister not to rely on what the former FCT ministaers have done in the sector. He should just reconstitute a new model urban mass transport system that will cover all the satellite towns and the city, so that Abuja commuters will patronize a reliable transport system that will meet an international standard.”
According to Yar’Adua, “Government should implement the transport policy in such a way as to attract investors. This would make the license operators to source for more money to buy more vehicles for the policy. We are ale also appealing to the FCT administration to remove illegal operators from Abuja roads so as to make the roads conducive for license operators.” However Mr. Alebiosu appeals to Abuja commuters to be patient and allow the new FCT administration to settle down before it takes decisions on the FCT transport system.
The post Dwindling Fortunes Of Abuja Urban Mass Transport System appeared first on Nigerian News from Leadership News.