LUNANCY OF LAGOS: BUS ROMANCE

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   From the yellow buses with black stripes, BRT buses alternating between blue and red to tricycles, motorbikes, franchise cabs and regular cabs, and then personal vehicles, Lagos is definitely not short on transport choices in the grand scheme of things. Transport is a crucial aspect of living in Lagos--any big city actually--as it improves networking, communication between people and then the economy cos people need to move around to make money yo!! After moving from the centre of Lagos to one of the ends, I unavoidably ended up having more commuting experiences than i did prior to that. And more commuting experience invariably translates to more hours on the road. Did I make you think I would be documenting actual experiences with people in buses? Well, not today. So, yeah I'd be talking about the buses today, the ones i know and have had "dealings" with at least:


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BRT buses: were introduced by ex-governor Fashola in some year i can't quite remember but they definitely are the most comfortable buses especially when you aren't in that much of a hurry to stand or you get a seating space. However, it seems to me at times that more attention is being paid to the blue buses than the red ones, they still are better than a vast majority of other public buses in Lagos. The only issue may be the fact that the buses cover just a number of routes in Lagos aside that, they've most definitely  been doing good for the people of Lagos.
Next, we have the yellow and black buses. The yellow and black is basically branding for commercial buses in Lagos and the buses are of different "types". Out of the varying types, I'd be talking about three that I happen to board most often. There is coaster, one called LT and another that i can't really put a name to.

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(A neat version of what you'd see on Lagos roads)

Coaster buses: my guess is, they've been around for quite a while and were more common back then than they are now. I board this bus once every time I make my way from the centre of Lagos to the end. My deal with this bus is, if you aren't lucky enough to be one of the first to board, it would be a rather bumpy ride. Wondering why? Well, the most comfortable seat in my opinion is the one just beside the door, if you manage to get that, it would be pretty comfortable a ride. The seats in the bus are made to hold four per row but for some reason that i believe to be monetary they are made to hold five. Being the fifth on a seat equates to literally sitting on the bodies of  other commuters on either side. I seat in this bus for like an hour and i come out having tingling sensations in my legs.


LTs: don't really know why they are called that but they are pretty comfortable. The seats hold 5 people and it almost is a comfortable 5. I say almost because it depends on the kind of people seated (I'm not ready to shake tables that can collapse tonight so, i won't go into details *grins*). There's sufficient head room, a person of average height can stand straight and it's more convenient for those over the average height (in terms of leg room).


Mazdas: these are inarguably the worst buses i have entered, as far as i know, they ply mainly the lagos-badagry expressway. How are they the worst?? The design of the bus leaves just the driver and those beside having real view of the road ahead and i for one appreciate a view of the road before us. Then, the seats are meant to hold 4 but two of the four have to lean forward for there to be seeming convenience. Alighting this bus leaves me numb from hours of seating in weird positions and at times, a hurting neck alongside a sigh of relief.

DID YOU KNOW: some of the commercial buses on the road are hot wired. If they can be hot wired, you can expect some dashboards (speedometers, fuel gauges and all) to barely function too. Now you know.

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