Mobility startup, Treepz will support Lagos-based bus company, CMS T&M, with technology

A few weeks after raising $2.8m seed funding and acquiring  Ugabus, a Ugandan bus company, mobility startup, Treepz has announced a partnership with CMS Taxi and Motor Nigeria Limited (CMS T&M), a Lagos-based traditional bus company. This partnership will see the CMS T&M passengers have access to convenient payment options and predictable travel times using Treepz’ technology.

According to a statement by the startup, this move is in line with its mission to provide commuters with convenient and affordable means of transportation within cities across Africa. The technology provided by Treepz will also allow the CMS T&M management to digitise ticketing as well as provide a transparent system for bus operators across its axis. 

Established as Taxi Drivers Friendship Association in 1968, CMS T&M is a 53-year-old licensed shuttle bus company that operates in the Central Business District of Lagos including Marina, Lagos Island, Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Lekki areas of Lagos State, with high-capacity buses and minivans.

With over 1.2 million passengers annually, CMS T&M provides conducive vehicles that ease the daily commute of workers, students, and traders within the city. It comprises of 7 cooperative associations with each association contributing a member to the Board of Directors.

Speaking on the partnership, Mr Onyeka Akumah, CEO & Co-Founder Treepz said:

I am particularly excited about the opportunity for this foremost transportation company to use Treepz technology to move away from cash-based payments, paper ticketing and the general issues that come with this old way of buying bus tickets. CMS T&M will now move into the digital era with different ways for their 1.2 million annual customers to purchase their travel tickets while providing transparency and an efficient way to manage their operations with our technology. This will greatly improve the experience of daily commuters in Lagos and kick-start the digitalization of transportation systems across Nigeria

On his part, Andrew Akhigbe, Managing Director of CMS T&M said that his team is “excited about our recent partnership with Treepz and can’t wait to power our CMS bus park using world-class technology with benefits occurring to both partners and commuters. Being a business of over 53 years, one of our goals is to drive a transparent operation system and Treepz helps us meet this using technology.”

With operations in Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria, Treepz has introduced the Transportation Operator System to provide Bus Parks and Bus Operators with the necessary technology to digitise their services while increasing their customer base and managing their revenue.

As many stakeholders in the transportation space are considering moving away from paper ticketing, cash-based transactions to understanding their customer inventory, Treepz is positioning to provide them with the technology that will allow them to attain this.

According to its statement, Treepz has an existing partnership with over 12 bus operators. These include “GUO Transport, Libra Motors, EFEX Transport Service, ABC Transport, Anambra Executive and a list of other intercity transporters with a combined 1,500 vehicles in their fleet.”

Treepz also provides bus hiring services to schools, bus hire services to corporations for their staff buses and provides technology to state governments to power their state transport systems.