High Ferry Fares Push Lagos Commuters Back To Road Transport

Many commuters in Lagos are abandoning inland water transportation for road travel as rising ferry fares make long-distance journeys increasingly unaffordable.

Passengers who spoke on Tuesday at the Marina Jetty in CMS said the high cost of water transportation has discouraged many residents from using ferries, especially on longer routes such as CMS to Badagry and Ikorodu.
According to the commuters, while the Apapa-CMS route remains popular because it helps passengers avoid the persistent traffic on Marine Bridge, fares on the route have risen from N500 to N700 and now N1,000.

They noted that longer waterway trips have become significantly more expensive, with a one-way trip from CMS to Badagry costing about N10,000, while passengers travelling to Port Novo pay as much as N12,000.

The commuters argued that such fares are considerably higher than road transport costs, making road travel a more attractive option despite traffic congestion.

Reacting to the concerns, Chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transporters of Nigeria (ATBOWATON), Comrade Saheed Lawal, blamed the high fares on the soaring cost of petrol and the rising prices of spare parts.

Lawal explained that operators also face challenges accessing fuel, noting that there is only one official fueling point for boats on Lagos waterways, located at the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) headquarters in Falomo.

He said travelling from CMS to Falomo to refuel consumes about 10 litres of petrol, forcing many operators to purchase fuel in jerrycans from nearby filling stations in Marina, which further increases operating costs.

According to him, the combination of expensive fuel, rising maintenance costs and operational challenges has made it difficult for operators to reduce ferry fares, resulting in a decline in passenger patronage across the state’s inland waterways.