Fuel-efficient vehicles and petrol consumption in the transportation sector of Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

The sustained growth in the economic activities and re-emergence of the middle-level income
people in Nigeria have led to general increase in the number of personal vehicles on the roads.
However, a large number of these are imported, fairly used vehicles, popularly called 'Tokunbo'
in Nigeria. These vehicles are fuel inefficient because they consume fuel intensively. This paper
investigated the effect of driving fuel-efficient vehicles on petrol consumption in the
transportation sector of Lagos State. Data was collected from a valid sample of 1565 respondents selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. The result of a correlation analysis showed
that fuel-efficient vehicles can significantly reduce petrol consumption in the transportation
sector of the state. This finding is instructive and the paper suggested the need for policy makers
in Nigeria to enunciate appropriate policies that would encourage majority of motorists, currently
driving used and fuel inefficient vehicles, to switch to new and more fuel-efficient vehicles to
reduce their fuel consumption and carbon footprints in the state.