Most pages listing Nigerian bus fares do not say where the numbers came from. That matters, because a fare quoted without a source cannot be checked, cannot be dated, and cannot be told apart from a guess. This page states our sources, our sample and our limits, so that anyone quoting a Transita figure knows exactly what they are quoting.
Key takeaways
- Fares come from the operators’ own systems, not from estimates or from other websites.
- The current sample covers 7 operators across 465 operator-route combinations, 314 city pairs and 172 named terminals.
- A price shown is the fare the operator is posting for that vehicle class on that route — not an average and not a prediction.
- We take no commission on the fares shown, because we do not sell the ticket.
Where the numbers come from
Fares, departure times, vehicle classes and terminal names are read from the transport operators’ own booking systems. Where an operator publishes an interface for this, we read it directly. Nothing on this site is copied from another fare-listing website, and nothing is estimated from distance, fuel price or any other proxy.
That is the whole of the method, and it is the reason our figures sometimes disagree with published price lists elsewhere. When an operator changes a fare, the change reaches us because we are reading the same system the operator sells from.
What the sample covers
The index is not a survey of every bus in Nigeria and does not claim to be. It covers scheduled intercity services from operators that run them to a timetable. Here is the current shape of it.
| Measure | Count |
|---|---|
| Operators indexed | 7 |
| Operator-route combinations | 465 |
| City pairs, counting each direction | 314 |
| Corridors, counting both directions as one | 215 |
| Named terminals on those routes | 172 |
| Cities served | 61 |
| Distinct vehicle classes | 21 |
| Corridors with more than one operator | 55 (26%) |
The operators currently indexed are ABC Transport, Chisco Transport, Efex Transport, GIGM, GUO Transport, Libra Motors, Peace Mass Transit. Where a corridor shows a single operator, that reflects who runs a scheduled service on it — not a gap we have chosen to leave.
What a fare on this site means
A price shown against a route is the fare the operator is posting for that vehicle class, in naira, for a single adult seat. It is not an average across operators, not a historical mean, and not a forecast.
- Where a route shows a range, the ends are the cheapest and dearest posted fares we hold for it — usually different vehicle classes, sometimes different operators.
- Luggage charges, terminal levies and insurance are not included unless the operator includes them in the posted fare.
- Child and concession fares are not indexed. Assume the figure shown is the adult fare.
- Fares on some corridors include intermediate stops, so the lowest figure on a page may be for part of the journey rather than all of it. The route tables name the terminals so this is visible.
How often it refreshes
Fares are re-read from operator systems on a running schedule, and the search results you see are drawn from that index rather than from a cached page. The written articles are regenerated from the same tables when the underlying figures have moved enough to change what the article says, which is why a corridor article and a live search agree with each other.
Fares in Nigeria move. They move with fuel prices, and they move sharply around Christmas, Easter and public holidays, when operators add surcharges that can sit well above the everyday fare. A figure read in September does not describe December.
What we do not do
We do not sell tickets, and we take no commission on any fare shown. That is worth stating plainly on a page about method, because it is the usual reason a fare-listing site would have an interest in the number it displays. We have none: you compare here and travel with the operator you choose, on their terms.
We also do not adjust, round or smooth the fares. If two operators post very different prices for the same road on the same day, the site shows both, because that difference is the most useful thing on the page.
Known limits
- Operators without a scheduled, published timetable are not indexed, which excludes most park-and-go services.
- A fare can change between the moment it is indexed and the moment you reach the terminal. Treat it as what the operator was posting, not a guarantee.
- Journey times are the operators’ own scheduled durations. Nigerian road conditions being what they are, these are planning figures.
- Terminal names come from operator records and are sometimes inconsistent between operators for the same location.
Citing this data
Journalists and researchers are welcome to quote these figures. Please cite Transita and the date you read them, because a fare without a date is not a fact about anything. If you need a cut of the data we have not published — a corridor, an operator, a time series — ask us.
Frequently asked questions
Are these fares estimates?
No. They are read from the operators’ own systems. Nothing on the site is estimated from distance or fuel price.
Why does your fare differ from the one I was quoted?
Most often because the class differs, because a surcharge applies, or because the fare moved after we read it. Fares also rise sharply around festive periods.
Do you take a cut of the fare?
No. We do not sell the ticket, so we have no interest in the price shown. You book with the operator directly.
How many operators do you cover?
7, across 465 operator-route combinations and 61 cities.
Related reading
- The state of Nigerian intercity bus travel
- How Nigerian bus prices actually moved
- How Transita decides two buses are one journey
Compare live fares across every operator on Transita. One search covers every operator on the corridor.
