For many Lagos commuters, avoiding delays means spending more on transport. When buses take too long to fill up, passengers must choose between waiting and risking late arrival or paying extra for tricycles and connecting buses.    
 
The longer they wait, the more likely they are to abandon cheaper options for faster alternatives, turning daily journeys into a costly trade-off between time and money.
 
For Anu Olamide, a Magodo resident who works on Lagos Island, the morning commute is usually manageable. Returning home in the evening, however, is a different experience.

Olamide said she crosses the bridge near the Secretariat behind Magodo Phase Two to access public transport towards the Ajah and Victoria Island axis.

Although she sometimes waits about 15 minutes for a vehicle in the morning, she said the journey was generally faster than her evening movement when traffic congestion and higher transport fares made getting home more difficult.
 
Her experience reflects the challenges commuters face when traffic congestion, long waiting times and rising transport costs combine to make everyday journeys more expensive.

For Felix Adeniji, who travels between Magodo and Ketu, the delay often begins with waiting for enough passengers to board a tricycle, popularly known as keke.

Adeniji said he typically waits about 10 minutes, although the period could stretch to 30 minutes, depending on passengers’ availability.

Vehicles, he noted, tend to fill up faster during the morning and evening rush hours when more people are travelling.

For commuters travelling from Ojota, however, the wait can be considerably longer, with some spending more than an hour at the motor park before their journey begins.

Favour Okon said repeated delays at the Ojota motor park had forced her to reconsider how she travelled to Ogba and Agege.
 
She recalled spending more than an hour waiting for a bus to fill up, despite needing to reach her destination on time. On another occasion, the bus barely left the park before stopping around Oregun, Ikeja, because of a mechanical problem.

According to Okon, passengers were not refunded their fares after the journey was interrupted. The driver reportedly explained that he had already spent money settling payments at the park and needed funds to repair the vehicle.

The passengers eventually abandoned the bus and sought alternative transport, losing both valuable time and the money they had already paid.

The experience has since influenced Okon’s travel decisions. Rather than risk another prolonged wait at Ojota, she sometimes takes a tricycle towards Adeniyi Jones, near Allen Junction, where she can find other vehicles heading towards Ogba and Agege.

Although the alternative costs more, she said the vehicles filled up faster, making the route more convenient when she needed to arrive on time.

For Okon, paying extra is sometimes preferable to spending hours waiting for a bus that may not depart as scheduled. The additional expense, she said, offers a better chance of reaching her destination without further delays.

A lawyer, Farouk Olaide, has also experienced lengthy waits at the Ojota motor park while travelling towards Ogba and Agege.

He recalled spending almost two hours waiting for a bus, despite leaving home early because he had to appear in court.

Beyond the delays, Olaide said passengers were sometimes left confused when drivers repeatedly changed the vehicles they were expected to board.

He said passengers could be moved from one bus to another several times as drivers announced that a different vehicle would make the journey. The uncertainty frustrated him, particularly because he had planned his departure around a fixed court appearance.

Despite these experiences, Olaide continues to use the motor park because its fares are cheaper than those of the alternatives available to him.
 
He pays about N600 for the bus journey. Travelling by tricycle from Ojota Junction to Adeniyi Jones costs about N300, followed by another N500 to reach Ogba or Agege.

The alternative, therefore, costs about N800 in total, compared with the N600 bus fare, although actual fares may vary.
 
For commuters managing daily expenses, the N200 difference matters. Yet the cheaper option comes with uncertainty over departure times, leaving passengers to decide whether the savings justify the risk of arriving late. For those with appointments or strict work schedules, paying more may be the price of avoiding an unpredictable journey.

Not everyone travelling from Ojota experiences such delays.

Philip Daniel, an elderly businessman whose business place is located around Ikeja Under-Bridge, said he generally finds a vehicle quickly because he leaves home early, when demand for transport towards the area is high.
 
When he travels later in the day, however, he sometimes waits about 30 minutes before boarding a vehicle.

His experience illustrates how departure times, destinations and passengers’ demand can influence waiting periods. But the accounts of Okon and Olaide highlight the difficulties that arise when buses take too long to fill up or drivers change travel arrangements after passengers have boarded.

For workers, business owners and professionals with fixed schedules, the consequences extend beyond time spent at a motor park. A commuter may leave home early to beat traffic but still arrive late because a bus has not departed. A mechanical breakdown can further disrupt the journey, forcing passengers to seek alternative transport and spend more money.

The experiences reveal the difficult choices commuters face between affordability and reliability. While cheaper buses remain attractive to passengers trying to manage their daily expenses, some are willing to pay more for alternatives they believe will get them moving sooner.

Commercial drivers at the Ojota motor park, however, say the delays are largely linked to the need to get enough passengers before setting off.

Ezekiel Olaoluwa, who operates between Ojota and Ogba, said drivers paid fees to operate from the park and could not always afford to leave with unfilled seats.

According to him, they sometimes had to wait for more passengers to make a trip financially worthwhile.
 
Olaoluwa said the delays did not occur all the time and were often beyond the drivers’ control because departure depended on how quickly passengers arrived. He added that vehicle breakdowns were uncommon, although they could occasionally disrupt journeys.

Another driver, Ajani Toheeb, who operates between Ojota and the Secretariat, also attributed departure delays to the time it took to get enough passengers for a trip.
 
He said drivers had to consider their operating costs and the number of passengers available before setting off.

While acknowledging that waiting could inconvenience commuters, he maintained that drivers could not always determine how quickly a bus would fill up.