In a strategic move aimed at addressing transportation challenges on the Plateau, Governor Caleb Mutfwang is poised to commission a fleet of 14 diesel-powered buses in response to the pressing need for improved mobility in the state.
Samuel Jatau, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) who doubles as the Chairman to midwife the capitalization of the startup of the TIN CITY metro bus services disclosed this to Journalists in Jos while on an inspection tour of the temporaral taminal for the metro buses.
Jatau said the procurement of the buses signifies a significant step forward in the government’s efforts to enhance public transportation services.
The SSG said the newly acquired buses from Germany are to help reduce the hardship Nigerians were currently facing.
“The buses were newly acquired from Germany to help reduce the hardship because our government is very conscious of the fact that there’s a lot of hardship. And one of the critical sectors where people are in the suffering is the transportation sector, the cost of food is also very high, but one of the things biting harder is transportation. So we want to do this as a palliative and we need to start quickly”; the SSG said.
Jatau however said the congesting of the Taminus market area need to be sorted out before the buses commence operations.
“We have a few issues which we need to sort out, one of which is why we’re here today because you can see how congested the terminus area is, We need to clear out because these buses are huge and our routes in some cases are a bit narrow.
“So we need to be able to get for them parking spaces and so on and so forth.That’s why we’re here to see how we can partner with the traders to relocate them down to the Taminus market on temporally”.
The General Manager, Plateau Express Services limited, Samuel Gwot told journalists while inspecting the buses that “We brought you here first of all to see that the buses are here and ready to be deployed.This is really, really a big milestone for us in this government.
“We’re really grateful to governor Caleb Mutfwang for providing these buses, and he has the heart of the masses and he really, really wants to make transportation easy. Apart from food, the next biting issue is transport.
“And so here is a digitized transport system that is safe, affordable and very reliable.We have a good customer care system where you can give us feedbacks in case you’re having any issue with our bus services. So we already have the card readers installed and this week the adverts will come out on the routes that we’re taking”; Gwot said.
He added that the buses will render services at affordable rates with digital cards for N2,000 which the transport fare will be N200 for all routes across Jos town.
