Abstract: The study examines the use of auto-rickshaw (three wheeled cycle) as poverty alleviation scheme in metropolitan area of Lagos, Nigeria. About 200 tricycle operators of National poverty eradication programmes were sampled in 24 loading points with 73.5% benefited and 26% did not benefited from the scheme. The study revealed that male operators dominated the scheme. Majority of the operators fall into working class group and as well have one level of education or the other. Most of the challenges of the tricycle operators include among others, high cost of the tricycle and unfriendly payback period, extortion from police and local council officials, problem of routes choice and competition with other road users. The programme changes not only the welfare of the operators but the overall assessment of the programme by the tricycle operators shows that the programme is helpful. However if the current trend in the implementation of the scheme is not reviewed by the appropriate authorities to favour the tricycle operators, the scheme may suffer the fate of failure which other scheme earlier introduce to reduce poverty faced.