Lagos commuters laud free bus initiative

Commuters in Lagos have been treated to free bus ride, courtesy of an initiative to ease incessant gridlocks experienced while commuting in the metropolis.

Residents of the city have for long endured nightmarish gridlocks, long waits at bus terminals, and high transportation costs.
 
A firm, Amber Energy Drink Ltd, through its Amber BRT ride initiative, has put in place a plan with transport authorities such that all that is required by members of the public is to buy a can of the drink at designated BRT bus terminals or yellow buses garages and get a free BRT ticket.
 
The initiative, which rolled out two weeks ago, is already creating excitement amongst Lagos commuters. Selected bus terminals that have become the epicentres of the free bus ride are Leventis, CMS, Oyingbo, Fadeyi, Maryland and Ojota.

This runs Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for BRT buses, while Oshodi, Obalende, Marina, Ojuelegba and CMS routes run on Wednesdays and Fridays for the conventional yellow buses, depending on their destinations between 4:00p.m. and 6:00p.m. at the close of work.
 
Speaking on the initiative, General Manager of Amber Energy Drink Ltd, Ms Lola Adedeji, said: “For us, we have done everything possible, even what other companies cannot do to satisfy and meet our consumers’ needs. We have taken our time not just to study the market but also who our consumers are and what they will need, and have decided that at every step of the way, we will meet the needs of our consumers.”
 
A Lagos civil servant, Mr Opeyemi Ojulari, who boarded the bus at the Oyingbo terminal after the day’s work at the Railway Station, said: “Commuting within Lagos metropolis has never been this fun and exciting. The BRT ride activation has changed the face of social life at bus terminals from the monotonous and sometimes awful long wait on long queues to buy tickets and board buses.”
 
Also, Mrs Sola Ijatuyi, a businesswoman at Marina area of Lagos, expressed joy at the BRT bus terminal at CMS, saying she deliberately dropped her car at home to experience the free bus ride and ease her stress of driving.