The paper examines the operations of Public Transport in Nigeria using the Kwara State
Transport Service as a case study. Public transportation service in Nigeria is provided by
both the public and private operators. While the public Corporations are established by
governments private service operations are uncoordinated and poorly organized. Due to
the inability of transport operators to solve the mobility needs of Nigerians, the Federal
Government established the Federal Urban Mass Transit Program in I988 to ameliorate
the transport situation in Nigeria. Through this program State Transport Corporations
were established and assisted with busses and training in order to actualize the objectives
of the program. The study uses data collected from passengers, through questionnaire
administration, to determine users' views on the services provided by the Kwara State
Transport Service. Data were also collected from records of the Transport Corporation
relating to passenger traffic, bus fleet and types, fare charged and organizational structure
to assess the operations of the Corporation. Results of the study revealed that operations
of government owned Transport Corporations are defective in service delivery and
reliability. The paper recommends that in order to make the public transport service in
Nigeria responsive to the mobility needs of the people, improvements are needed in the
operations of government transport organizations and encouragement of private operators
through government assistance.