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The BRT Bus Station At TBS: My First Time Experience During Rush-hour – Autoreportng
Last week, we asked if the TBS bus station is the best in terms of structure, facilities, security, etc.
The answer we got was quite overwhelming. To some, it is a foolish question as there are no basis for comparison. To others, the Ikeja BRT bus station comes top.
We were at Muson Centre for an event recently. Luckily, we closed during the rush hour. So it gave us an opportunity to carry out an assessment of the BRT service at the TBS bus station. And these are what we experienced.
Once it Gets to 3pm, The Buses Would be Nowhere to be Found
You get a sense that the buses went into hiding during that period.
We had a chat with one of the security officials. We asked him for the reason for the delay in the arrival of the buses. According to him, the buses were held up on Eko Bridge (Eko Bridge links TBS to Costain on the mainland) and from Costain up to Jibowu, Onipanu etc. So, they spend at least 45 to 50 minutes in traffic which causes the delay and the bus station gets filled with passengers waiting for the buses o arrive.
There are no Officials in Charge to Control the Crowd
One would have thought that an official at least should ensure that the queue is maintained and the passengers are line orderly but it seems the officials got tired of standing and they decide to take a stroll
The Ticketers Were very Rude
Perhaps they were overwhelmed by the crowd of people, or maybe they were fasting and thus were hungry. The manner with which some of these ticketers attended to people was really unprofessional. They were quite discourteous towards passengers.
While we understand that people are difficult to please, especially Lagosians, the least one expected from them was decorum. For instance, they should learn to politely inform passengers that they should have the exact fare, or that they don’t have change.
Refreshment
We noticed the presence of signs stating that hawkers were not allowed. However, there was no alternative in place by the authorities for waiting passenger to patronize in order to satisfy their hunger or thirst. We stood, waiting for the bus, for almost 30 minutes, and yours truly was seriously hungry. I was left with no choice than to stroll to a distance outside the premises in order to get something to satisfy my hunger. In as much as we support the no hawking idea, the lock-up kiosks present there should be opened for business to cater for the needs of waiting passengers.
Maintenance of The Buses
While we give kudos to the operators of BRT service for doing an excellent job in making sure the buses were always neat and also making sure passengers have a stress free journey, we felt its time they start thinking of ways to curb the water on the roof of the buses and this is a result of the AC in the bus. But apart from that they did well in that area.
Above all, we will rate them 70%.
