An Assessment Of The Quality Of Intra-Urban Bus Services In The City Of Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria

Despite the vital role that buses are able to play in any urban area, their services are frequently insufficient to meet demand and the services that are provided suffer from low output. This paper assesses the quality of intra-urban bus services that are provided by government agencies and private bus operators in the city of Enugu as perceived by bus commuters. In the 31 sample centers selected for this study 310 bus commuters were randomly interviewed to illicit information about their lengths of waiting time for the arrival of buses at the bus stops and their lengths of walking distances to the nearest bus stops. Using hourly bus frequency arrival count proforma, the number of buses arriving in each of the 31 sampled centres to carry passengers to different places in the city were collected by the stationed investigators between 6.00am and 6.00pm each day for one week. Descriptive statistic of mean and maps were employed to analyze the data collected. The analysis revealed that the quality of bus service indicators-passengers waiting time, walking distance to the nearest bus stops and bus service frequency varied from one centre to another, indicating variations in the level of bus services in different part of the city. The study recommends that the three Local Government Areas that make up the city in conjuction with the state government should construct new urban link roads and maintain the old ones especially in the peripheries to enhance accessibility; partnership with private bus operators to increase the number of buses in circulation and relocation of some socio-economic facilities from the city centre to the city peripheries to spread demand for and services of buses in the city.