As the festive season approaches, a noticeable change has taken place in holiday travel patterns.
Quest Times reports that while Christmas traditionally sees a surge in people moving from one place to another, this year, it is the transportation of goods and food items that is on the rise.
The holiday season, typically associated with joy and travel, has taken a turn due to economic challenges, as both transporters and business owners are seizing the opportunity to increase fares and prices during this period when people showcase their achievements and exchange gifts.
This economic shift is evident at inter-state bus terminals, such as those in Lagos, where the usual bustling crowd is diminishing. Instead of people scrambling for travel tickets, the haulage departments of transport companies are now bustling with individuals sending packages via waybill to their loved ones.
Speaking exclusively with Vanguard, locals in Lagos expressed that sending essential items via waybill has become more economically sensible than bearing the high costs of personal travel.
Mrs. MaryAnn Edebor, a regular December traveler, had to cancel her trip due to soaring transportation and food costs, opting instead to send two bags of rice and 25 liters of groundnut oil home for a more affordable N12,000.
“I travel every December to celebrate Christmas and New year with my mother and siblings since I relocated to Lagos. But this year, I had to cancel the trip because of high cost of transportation and food stuff,” she said.
Even frequent Christmas traveler Mr. Chima Nwuzor found road travel to Ghana more cost-effective at N65,000, compared to the triple cost of flying.
He explained, “I have an international event in Ghana that is why I am here. The cost of traveling to Ghana by road is N65,000 and that serves me better than flying where triple of this amount will not be enough.”
He added that economic constraints are forcing individuals to improvise and cut unnecessary expenses.
Also, a transport company manager, speaking anonymously, anticipated this shift, emphasizing that transporting goods has become more lucrative than carrying passengers.
“The situation is very critical. As you can see, it is only goods people are sending home now. There are no passengers because waybill of items is cheaper than transporting humans,” he said.
He further explained that transport fares to eastern destinations have skyrocketed from N15,000 last year to a range of N29,000 to N35,000 this year, with expectations of further increases.
Moreover, this economic challenge has led to a reduction in the number of buses in operation, as many transport companies are selling off unused vehicles.
Mr. Prince Chukwuma, a transport company worker, confirmed the decline in passenger influx this year, highlighting the contrast to the crowded scenes of the previous Christmas season.
“Last year, this place was crowded with passengers who were travelling to their villages to celebrate Christmas. Some parks were short of buses to convey passengers. They had to locate their branches all over the state before they could get buses, ” he explained.
Concluding, he attributed this year to being very terrible for transporters, stating that there were only goods waiting to be way billed, instead of people travelling.