- By Femi Alabi
Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang has banned street trading around the Jos Terminus area, to pave the way for the commencement of the Tincity Metro Bus Service.
Mutfwang, who announced the decision on Wednesday in Jos, said that the buses, newly acquired from Germany, were to help reduce the hardships that the citizens were experiencing as a result of subsidy removal and the rise in the value of the dollar.
The Governor spoke through the Secretary to the Government of the State, Samuel Jatau, who is also the Chairman of the Committee on the Actualisation of the Tincity Metro Bus Service.
He said that though the cost of food is very high, one of the critical sectors where people were suffering is the transportation sector.
In his words, “We want to commence that as a palliative, and so we need to start that quickly.
“But we have a few issues that we need to sort out, one of which is why we are here today because you can see how congested the terminus area is.
“So we need to clear out some structures because these buses are huge and our routes, in some cases, are a bit narrow. We need to be able to get them parking spaces and so on.
“That is why we are here; to see how we can partner with the traders to relocate them to a new place so that they can also be comfortable doing their businesses,”.
He explained that the new location is a temporary measure as the government intended to build markets in neighbourhoods around town in the coming months and years.
The General Manager, of Plateau Express Services Limited, Samuel Gwott, who took journalists to see the buses, said that they were commencing the Tincity Metro Bus Service with 14 diesel-powered buses.
Gwott said that the digitised transport system was safe, affordable, and very reliable.
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”The general manager of the buses has a good customer care system where commuters give feedback in case they are having any issues with our bus services.
“We have card readers installed, and this week the adverts will come out on the routes that we are taking.
“We already have 20,000 of the cards ready so that people can preorder and get them via home delivery, or you can also pick them up at authorized vendor locations.
“So these are the buses, and we just brought you here to show you that we are ready.
”But there are things that need to be put in place, for instance, we just left the Terminus area where we need to fix some things, and that is where the main hotspot is.
According to Gwott, eight routes have been designated for the bus service, and each drop would cost N200 no matter the distance
“The cards are going for N2000, and it is still at a very affordable price. Both the cards and the transport fare are highly subsidised by the Plateau Government.
“We want the traders, the mechanics, everybody to be able to know how to access this.
“So, for easy reach, you can just download the app, which will be out this week, and you can go to the web app and also just request the card and put your details plus your NIN for security reasons.
“Impute the amount you want for a minimum of N1000, and each card comes with a free N200 because each tap at the moment is N200 for every destination you are going to, whether far or near,”.