A commercial transport fare payment App, known as Agbero App, has been unveiled in Lagos, as an answer to the challenges of arbitrary fare increments by commercial bus operators.
The city wide fare payments service App, developed by Ruiti Agbero Limited, is available for download from the Google Playstore.
The Managing Director/CEO of Ruiti Agbero Limited, Mr Olusesan Ogunmilade, who disclosed this exclusively to The Nation on Wednesday, said the Agbero App is a positive response to the yearnings of riders to have affordable transport fare system.
Ogunmilade said Ruiti Agbero, has put in place a structure of reduced fare, which would lead to increase in ridership and profitability for operators.
The Agbero App, he further disclosed, will attract a fresh capital inflow as more private sector led operators would be attracted by the guaranteed return on investment.
Explaining how the App works, Ogunmilade said the App offers all operators a fare collection from passengers on a platter, only by simply downloading the App, and registering as an operator.
He said the App is also suitable for the use of government licenced rapid transit franchised operators or the state’s bus assets limited, as it is designed to complement their existing ticketing arrangements.
“The Agbero pays them as the riders use their services, and the commuter pay once. The plan is simple; riders pay with their phone and receive a ticket, which enables them to ride, on a One – Day Travel, round the city. To travel for a whole day, the rider will buy a ticket with their mobile phone, and ride on the boats/ferries/buses operators partnering with the Agbero App,” Ogunmilade said.
He described the Agbero App as a transparent cost recovery mechanism that may be deployed to rolling stocks financing as it provides a platform for institutional fund providers to partner with the ticketing solution for the public transport in the country.
The mobile ticket solutions ensures limitless ticketing capacity, while the rider generates their own ticket directly from their phones and reduces cost of operations for operators, and ensures lower fares for riders for riders/commuters/passengers.
Ogunmilade added that the App is most suited to achieve the COVID-19 protocols of social distancing, non-touching of common surfaces, and an all-round cashless transactions.
According to him, the App would roll out in July, and the registration of public transport operators has begun on www.ruitiagbero.com.
He urged interested users to download the Agbero App and create their account in readiness for the commencement of operations. He assured that the App would be introduced nationwide before next quarter next year.