A few months back you probably will not be reading this article telling you to find an alternative instead of buying a car especially if you are a middle income earner and all your earnings can get is a used car. But the reality stares everyone in the face, latest BusinessDay investigations show that the price of used cars has risen as much as 51 percent between Jan and May.
Prices have risen because of the combined effect of scarcity of foreign exchange and transfer of high overhead cost incurred at the point of entry supervised by the Customs Service at the Nigerian borders with other countries. The report disclosed that a Toyota Corolla 2004/2005 now sells for N1.5 million instead of the previous N1.1 million. A Mazda model car increased to N1.5 million from N1.25 million within the last five months.
Essentially this is not the best time to go into the market looking for a used car. But you want to reduce the amount you spend moving from one place to the other. For those who live in Lagos, the need becomes more urgent given the state of the commercial buses (danfos) that ply the routes. At the moment, if you do not live or work along the Ikorodu axis you will not enjoy commuting in comfort because these happens to be the only routes for the blue BRT buses with air-conditioners.
So what are the alternatives available for you? Until prices of cars stabilize – assuming something urgent is done about scarcity of forex, you may want to consider ridesharing as an option. Ridesharing refers to the sharing of vehicles by passengers to reduce vehicle trips, traffic and automobile emissions. There are many benefits from the definition, the first being that it is cheaper than hailing a cab and more convenient than commuting in a commercial bus. It is also cheaper than maintaining a used car; you don’t get to buy fuel every week, change engine oil, buy new spare parts, or sped on parking space fees.
It enables you to plan your trip more efficiently than you would have if you had a car. You are able to reduce the number of trips you make and use other creative ways to arrange meetings.
Ridesharing is becoming very popular in a number of cities in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos and Abuja. Platforms such as Jekalo, GoMyWay, Ridebliss, and Uber Nigeria help you get to anywhere you want to go by sharing a ride with someone. Jekalo’s services is based mainly in Lagos, however GoMyWay have riders who go beyond Lagos to other states. Uber’s ridesharing service is based in Abuja but has promised to expand to Lagos.
Some of them are apps a person can download on his Smartphone and get quick services. To get a ride, all you need is to register with both Facebook and LinkedIn accounts, search for rides and take the rides.
Ridesharing also helps you avoid traffic especially if you commute within Lagos, in so doing you get to your destination on time.
FRANK ELEANYA
