Business
LASG moves to save ailing LBLS from collapse
By AYOOLA OLAOLUWA
The Lagos State Government (LASG) has taken major steps to avert the imminent collapse of the Lagos Bus Services Limited (LBSL), Business Hallmark can report.
LBSL, a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, it would be recalled, had emerged from the ashes of similar government run public bus services in the state in 2016 as part of the Bus Reform Initiative of the Lagos State government to assist in alleviating the perennial transportation challenges faced by residents of the state.
Previous attempts by the state government to run a medium and mass transit company, starting from the defunct Lagos Municipal Transport Service (LMTS) by the Lateef Jakande administration in the 80s, as well as the Lagos Bus Services (LAGBUS) by the Fashola administration were not successful.
Expectedly, stakeholders, especially government officials and motorists, put huge expectations in the LBLS, hoping that the firm will succeed where others before it had failed.
At the launching in 2019, the elated Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of LBLS, Mr. Idowu Oguntona, had promised Lagosians that the company will provide smart and sustainable bus transportation solutions to meet the needs of the modern city of Lagos.
“To achieve this lofty vision of being the dominant service provider within the mass transit sector in Nigeria, we have created a competitive space where urban mobility guarantees a market for mass transit operators, with whom we would make available the means to move Lagos residents in comfort, with adequate capacity and affordable pricing,” Oguntona had stated.
As promised, the LBLS boss and his team hit the ground running. The ambitious scheme started with 820 high and medium-capacity buses out of the 5,000 the government intended to provide.
All the buses came with six emergency exits and first aid boxes, while every seat has a dedicated USB port for charging of phones, free Wi-fi, television and CCTV cameras, which are linked to LBLS’s control centre to monitor happenings on the buses, full air conditioning system, among other features.
People with disabilities, the elderly and pregnant women were also put into consideration with special seats reserved for them in the buses.
Apart from the fleet of buses, modern terminals and transport infrastructure to ease mobility for the 12 million people expected to use public transportation were built across the state. They included the Ikeja Bus Terminal and the world class Oshodi Transport Interchange, among several others modelled after modern terminals in Europe.
For several years, the transport scheme provided a convenient, safer, cheaper and faster means of public transportation to motorists than the regular yellow commercial buses. The party, however, did not last. Just a little over three years into the scheme, the transport company has become a shadow of its former self.
BH findings revealed that services rendered by the company have become inefficient; the number of buses in operation has reduced considerably, creating long queues at bus terminals.
The company is currently facing myriads of challenges which threaten its future existence.
According to stakeholders, the success of the scheme is tied to several factors, particularly competence and dedication of the company’s staff, competitive fares and road infrastructure. At the moment, all the values are in jeopardy.
One of the challenges faced is the perennial vandalization of the buses by aggrieved Nigerians. LBLS buses, checks revealed, are constantly targeted by angry road users and transporters over little disagreements.
“Our buses and facilities usually bear the brunt of public anger whenever there is a fight between road users, transporters and officers of the Vehicle Inspectorate Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and men of the Nigerian Police Force.
“Anytime commercial drivers have disagreements with law enforcement agencies, our buses are targeted for destruction. When students take to the streets, our buses are easy targets for destruction.
“When government vehicles knocked down innocent citizens, our buses are attacked by enraged mobs.
“Street urchins take special pleasure in burning our buses as a way of hitting back at government. We all saw what happened during the ‘End SARS’ protests in 2020 where most of our vehicles and terminals were destroyed.
“Up till this moment, the destroyed buses have not been replaced”, an official of LBLS who did no want his identity in print told our correspondent.
Another problem confronting the mass transit scheme is lack of maintenance. Many of the buses are currently grounded and sitting idle at the firm’s maintenance depots.
“We have challenges of spare parts. We do not produce spare parts in Nigeria, even tyres. We rely on imported parts from abroad that can take time to be shipped and cleared from the ports.
“That is even the least of our problems. The fact is that we don’t have the funds to replace these parts. Owing to the rising cost of foreign exchange, the amount we spend on buying parts has more than tripled.
“For instance, a Scania-Marcopolo tyre cost between $165 to $200 (N108,000 – N160,000) from abroad. That excludes shipping and clearing costs. By the time all costs are factored in, a unit goes for over N200,000.
“Unfortunately, the company does not have the necessary funds to meet up with its day to day running. The full capacity of a Scania-Marcopolo bus we use is 52 passengers and the highest fare we collect is on the Oshodi- Ajah route which is N400.
“If we multiply N400 by 52, that gives us N20,800. A bus will need to go on at least 20 trips to make that amount. Just for one tyre. And we are talking of 10 as Scania-Marcopolo uses ten tyres.
“Because of the frequency of the buses on the road, an average tyre last about a year. And we have other costs like fueling, servicing and repairs, transmission, brake and engine oils, batteries, staff salaries, ticketing, terminals maintenance costs and many others.
“Actually, due to the problem of not having the capacity to make the buses and their parts in the country, it is cheaper to run them aground and buy new ones. We found out that the cost of maintaining one in 24months is enough to buy a new one.
“To say the truth, the company will soon collapse like others before it if fares are not proportionally marked up to accommodate the current inflationary trend”, declared a staffer who preferred anonymity.
Low fares, rising cost of diesel and workers unscrupulous behaviour, especially, are also some of the challenges haunting the company.
A litre of diesel in the open market goes for between N730 to N800 in Lagos State.
BH learnt that it takes between 500 to 600 litres of diesel to fill the fuel tank of a Scania-Marcopolo bus, depending on the specifications and year of manufacturing. At the rate of N730 per litre, it will cost about N365,000 to fill up a 500 capacity tank.
“We bought the same quantity for less than N100,000 (N187/litre) just over a year ago. In fact, it rose to around N830/litre in June this year before crashing to around N730.
“If not for the Lagos State government that is subsidising the business, the buses would have been off the road a long time ago”, disclosed the LBLS source.
Owing to the paucity of funds, most of the buses, BH checks revealed, are either of the roads or operate skeletally.
For instance, while the air-conditioning systems in the buses no longer work, other facilities like the USB charging points, TV sets and wifi have since joined. Some buses windows are also broken, with improvised ones not working to standard.
A passenger who used one of the buses from Oshodi to CMS recently lamented that he was drenched by rain before he got to his destination.
“I boarded a BRT bus going to CMS at the Terminal 3 of the Oshodi Interchange last week. As usual, I sat by the window to enjoy the scenery.
“Unfortunately, my decision that day proved to be a wrong one. Just before we climbed the Third Mainland Bridge at Oworonshoki, a heavy rain started. Since the driver left opened all the windows because the AC were not on, passengers scrambled to shut the windows.
“Despite my efforts, the rains kept coming in and I was totally drenched before I reached my bus stop. On a closer look, I found out that the window is a crude one with rough edges, probably made by a local glass cutter
“I will advice the government to urgently find a solution to the deteriorating conditions of the buses, said Deji Olabiyi, a maintenance staff with the Eko Hotels and Suites.
A source in the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation disclosed that over 200 of the buses are currently off the road due to maintenance problems.
Meanwhile, in a bid to halt the declining fortunes of the ailing company, the Lagos State Government has instituted several measures which it hopes will address the slide.
One of the interventions is the approval to BRT operators to effect N100 flat rate increase in fare on all routes.
With the increase, a ride from Abule-Egba-CMS-Obalende now attract a fare of N600 from N450, Berger to Ajah is now N700, up from N600, Ikorodu to TBS now cost N600 from N500, with Oshodi to Abule Egba is now N450 from N350
“In view of the economic situation, the government is also providing support for the Bus Operating Companies in view of the continuous increase in fuel price. This is to ensure that the increase to the passenger is kept to a minimum.
“These measures are indispensable in the current global economic and environmental reality to ensure the sustainability of the BRT operations,” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had stated.
Sanwo-Olu also approved the conversion of the current diesel buses in operation to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), as well as a shift to economically viable options, such as electric vehicles and hydrogen buses.
In May, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the State Government and Oando Petroleum Ltd to convert the buses from diesel to CNG.
BH , however, gathered that the initiative had reached advanced stage with 10 buses already converted in the pilot phase now in use pending when data will prove the sustainability or otherwise of the use of CNG.
If the trial is successful, all the buses in the scheme are to be converted, it was learnt.
Apart from LBLS, all concessionaires operators like Primero Limited, which operates the red coloured LAGBUS and Femadec, which operates the CMS/Lekki/Ajah/Epe route would also be expected to convert their buses to CNG to support the government’s efforts to reduce carbon emission.
Like LBLS, Femadec in August also commenced the pilot phase of the use of 10 high occupancy buses powered by CNG for passenger operations on the Marina/CMS to Lekki and Ajah-Epe bus routes.
The company, which got a franchise from the state government to service the route is expected to incrementally increase the number of buses to 100 after the pilot programme.
The bus operating company will have its operational base at the Ajah Terminal and make use of the bus shelters along the Lekki-Epe corridor for its operation. Also, LBLS commuters will be able to use the Cowry card currently in use to pay for services on Femadec buses.
Meanwhile, the body overseeing BRT services in the state, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), has warned that the approved increment would still not cover the cost of fueling, which is likely to put the future the mass transit scheme in jeopardy.