Nigerians spent more on transportation in March, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS has said.
In its monthly Transport Fare Watch for March 2022 released on Sunday, the Bureau said the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey, increased by 4.43 per- cent on a month-on-month from N44,825.04 in February 2022 to N 46,810.62 in March 2022.
This report covered different categories of transportation: bus journey within the city per drop constant route; bus journey intercity, state route, charge per person; air fare charge for specified routes single journey; journey by motorcycle (Okada) per drop; and water way passenger transport.
On a year-on-year, the report indicates that air fare rose by 28.26percent (N36,495.41) in March 2021.
For the road transportation, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop rose to N3,270.94 in March 2022, indicating an increase of 5.29percent on a month-on-month compared to the value of N3,106.72 in February 2022.
The fare however, rose by 35.65 percent (N2,411.29) on a year-on-year, in March 2021.
Similarly, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey within the city per drop, increased by 4.41 percent on a month-on-month from N513.72 in February 2022 to N536.35 in March 2022.
In terms of year-on-year, however, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey within the city per drop rose by 42.17 percent from N 377.27 in March 2021 to N536.35 in March 2022.
In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for journey by motorcycle per drop increased by 4.22 percent on month-on-month from N379.12 in February 2022 to N395.12 in March 2022.
Also, in terms of year-on-year, the fare rose by 45.57 percent from N 271.44 in March 2021 to N395.12 in March 2022.
Also, the average fare paid for water transport (water way passenger transportation) in March 2022 dropped to N 890.03, showing a decrease of 2.53 percent on month- on-month from N 913.13 in February 2022.
On year-on-year, the fare rose by 10.10 percent from N 808.38 in March 2021 to N890.03 in March 2022.
At the state level, Yobe recorded the highest air transport charges (for specified routes single jour- ney) with N65,000 in March 2022, followed by Kebbi with N 59,874.42. Conversely, Ekiti had the least fare with N 38,953.75 followed by Enugu with 39,620.80.
For intercity bus travel (state route charged per person fare) in March 2022, the highest fare was recorded in Abuja with N5,000 followed by Adamawa with N4,233.33.
The least fares were recorded in Edo with N 1,883.33 followed by Bayelsa with N 1,944.44.
In terms of bus journey within the city (per drop constant route), Zamfara recorded the highest with N805.33 followed by Taraba State with N700.0.
On the other hand, Benue State recorded the least fares with N400.0 followed by Anambra State with N403.57.
In March 2022, Lagos state had the highest motorcycle transport fare with N618.38 followed by Kwara with N614.75.
The least fare was recorded in Anambra with N191.11 followed by Kebbi with N205.63.
Similarly, water transport fare was highest in Rivers state with N2,900.00 followed by Delta with N2,825.00, while the least fare was recorded in Borno State with N315.39 followed by Benue with N333.33.
