MONROVIA – The National Transit Authority (NTA) was established in the city of Monrovia, by the Government of Liberia through legislative enactment on September 11, 2008, and approved into law by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on March 24, 2009. The NTA has its roots in the erstwhile Monrovia Transit Authority (MTA), created in 1977 as a department of the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) to provide affordable mass transit service to the residents of Monrovia.
The government under the leadership of Madam Sirleaf envisioned that to holistically address the challenge of poverty in Liberia it was important to decentralize governance and all services appertaining therefrom. Hence, affordable public transportation for Liberians was identified as one of the areas for strategic intervention.
In October, 2011 with a generous donation by the Government of India of 25 Ashok Leyland Falcon buses, the Government of Liberia officially launched its mass transit services for the people of Liberia. This donation was soon followed by the purchase of an additional 8 new buses by the Government to further augment NTA’s capacity to extend access to mass transit services for our people.
Significantly, the remodelling of the MTA into the NTA seeks to decentralize the provision of affordable, convenient, and reliable mass transit services to citizens throughout the length and breadth Liberia. The government is confident this policy would facilitate the safe movement of people and goods within and out of the country at affordable cost and would further expand and enhance our national development agenda – to reduce poverty, create more jobs, and stimulate domestic trade and commerce.
The framers envisaged that the NTA would grow into a viable and sustainable public transportation outlet for the people of Liberia. It is also expected that the NTA shall endeavor overtime to establish subsidiaries in other parts of the country as and when appropriate and shall encourage private participation of small, medium, and large transport companies to promote an efficient and effective mass transit system in Liberia.
And so, with such unique background, it comes as a surprise as commuters in Marland County and other parts of the Southeastern Liberia have begun to lash out at the National Transit Authority over a sharp fare hike on the Monrovia–Maryland route, accusing the government-run service of abandoning its public mandate amid deepening economic hardship.
The fare for the cross-country route has surged from L$3,500 to L$5,500 in recent months, sparking widespread outrage among low-income travellers and civil society leaders. Many argue that the NTA, created to offer affordable, government-subsidized transport, is now mirroring the pricing of private taxis, leaving the poor behind.
“L$5,500 is a slap in the face of ordinary people like us,” said a resident of Pleebo who is a commercial motorcyclist. “We once supported the NTA because it gave us hope for affordable government transport. Now it feels like just another business.”
According to him, private taxis charge between L$6,000 and L$6,500 on the same route, making the NTA fare virtually vague.
Another resident of Harper District and daily commuter expressed her frustration: “To wait for NTA buses to come from Monrovia to Harper is already frustrating and add insult to injury we are paying more than ever for buses that often arrive late or half-empty. I’d rather pay L$5,000 to a taxi and get there on time than gamble with NTA.”
The backlash comes amid growing scrutiny of President Joseph Boakai’s “Rescue Mission” agenda, which promised reliable, accessible transportation for underserved regions. Many say the NTA fare hike runs counter to that pledge.
“If the NTA can’t keep fares affordable, then it has failed its purpose,” said one disgruntled commuter. “Public transport is supposed to help the masses, not compete with private taxis.”
Despite being a state-owned entity, the NTA has remained silent on the fare adjustment, offering no public explanation or plan to address the mounting complaints, particularly from Liberia’s southeast, a region already grappling with decades of infrastructural neglect.
At a recent bus departure point in Pleebo, the commercial city of Maryland County, more than 100 passengers were left stranded due to a lack of functioning buses, a situation residents say is becoming routine.
The head of a local civil society group in the County has called on the NTA to reverse the fare hike and deploy more buses along the southeastern route. “We are urging the NTA to restore the L$3,500 fare, establish a stable fare policy, and assign at least three functioning buses to this corridor,” he said. “Our people are suffering.”
The price hike by the NTA has also caught the attention of Maryland County monitor for the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR), who has said access to affordable transportation must be treated as a basic human right. “The government must prioritize rural communities. People here are being priced out of mobility,” he said.
Residents in Maryland County fear that with limited private transport options now charging as high as L$6,500 to L$7,000, on the Monrovia-Harper route and vice versa, many commuters are stuck to choose between unreliable public service and excessively expensive alternatives.
According to these residents and commuters in the country if nothing is done soon, the NTA risks becoming irrelevant in Southeastern Liberia. They cautioned that the NTA was created to serve the people, not to price them out at their detriment in these tough economic conditions.
The residents in Maryland County are lashing out at the NTA for transport fare hike because, according to them the it was created to provide affordable public services to commute ordinary Liberians who cannot meet the high fares usually charged by private commercial services.
They have called for a swift government intervention to stabilize fares, improve bus availability, and protect vulnerable communities from further economic exclusion, especially during the rainy season when road conditions worsen and the price of basic goods spikes intensely.
President Joseph Nyumah Boakai appointed three directors to oversee the operations of the National Transit Authority (NTA) when he ascended to the presidency of Liberia.
Mr. Edmund Forh, Managing Director of NTA, Togar Melvin Cephas, Deputy Managing Director for Administration, and Noah Zarwu Gibson, Deputy Managing Director for Operations were appointed by President Boakai to strengthen leadership at the NTA and improve the management of Liberia’s public transportation system under the NTA’s mandate to provide safe, efficient, and accessible transit services across the country.
But with the transport fare hike noise coming out of Maryland County being unpleasant, where residents in that part of Liberia and other Southeastern counties are calling on the President to intervene in the latest NTA management’s move to hike fares for the Monrovia-Harper route, it seems the people must be feeling the burden of travel on that route taking into consideration the tough economic situation being faced by ordinary Liberians.
Bookmakers are watching keenly to see what next will happen from the office of the President regarding the request being made by commuters in Maryland County and other southeastern counties of Liberia.
