Femi Osun
On every BRT bus is a sign that urges every commuter to get the BRT ticketing card because paper tickets will soon become more expensive.
Who doesn't want to save a few bucks? So I did, recently.
The first thing I noticed was that getting the card is the same thing as opening a full fledge account with Sterling Bank.
As far as I am concerned, this is a wrong initiative. BRT is a paid public service, Sterling Bank is a private organization.
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| Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in BRT during his gubernatorial campaign in 2015 |
I may want to use BRT and for many reasons not want to do business with Sterling Bank.
If the card is to be linked to a bank account, at all, which I don't support in the first instance, we should be able to pick a bank of our choice.
Undeniably, I should have that right.
Then the second problem is using a bank account at all. Every bank account is “ BVNed and IDed” to an individual. This means every time you use the card in any BRT bus, someone has a record of your movement -where and when you got on, where and when you got off.
This is an unacceptable invasion of privacy. I should be able to travel incognito if I choose to.
The solution?
DELINK the card from any bank or any bank account. Make it a stand alone electronic wallet that can be loaded from any ATM, bank or online.
The only problem with this is identity.
What if your card is lost, if found, how to your assert ownership? To me real question, is how many lost cards are found, anyway? The cards should come with PINs that the PIN possessor can use to block the card, by cardless transaction on any ATM.
The third observation is that your card continues to accumulate debit when you forget to 'tap out' the card on exit. So you may find a card with N5000 credit emptied because you forgot to 'tap out' after taking a N250 ride. At best this is insensitive, at worst it's robbery.
If you ever lived in Lagos, you would know that when you eventually get on the bus after waiting for hours at the end of a not-guaranteed-profitable, but undoubtedly hard day's work, 'tapping out' a card is the last thing on your mind!
We can solve this problem by installing an RFID system on each bus that automatically 'taps'you out at the exit door as you get off.
While standing on the queue at Ikorodu BRT terminal (for the past one and half hours) am thinking, this could be a project topic for one of my students.
The Lagos BRT system is a good initiative. Still it's inadequate and can be better organized. The staff also should be made to see the connection between the patrons and their pay cheques - they can be insanely rude to the most polite customer.
It remains the vest transportation system in Nigeria, but there is really no way a city of 20 million can be moved with a bus system.
We need the rails as soon as possible.
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