Urban transportation in the country has been a mess. In the 70’s, the Omnibus Service Authority (OSA) provided an organized and predictable mode of transport in the major cities. Government after government presided over the gradual liquidation of the OSA. In 2001, the Kufour government brought Metro Mass Transit (MMT) to solve urban transportation. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on intra-city travel, the business model of MMT changed, and it decided to focus on long-haul journeys, leaving urban commuting into the hands of private sector operators.
The arrival of the Ayalolo buses in 2015 was to revolutionize urban transportation in Accra. Again, we were shocked to the bones when the previous administration allowed the Ayalolo services to suffer premature death. Some of the buses were diverted to other cities and towns outside Accra and some private sector institutions decided to rent some of the Ayalolo buses for the staff and pupils’ use.
The Recent Rush-Hour Chaos
The capital city has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Commuters in the city are finding it difficult to find transport back home after work. Some private operators have decided to exploit vulnerable commuters by dividing journeys into multiple stops and charging passengers for each stop.
The current problem can largely be due to the non-operationalisation of Road Traffic Regulation 2012 (Legislative Instrument 2180). According to Regulation 121, the private informal bus operators are required to operate under defined management structures by tendering on competitive fares, service levels, safety, etc., for sole operation on specific routes. However, this regulation is not effectively enforced in the country. The MMDAs have not developed the competencies in managing transportation in their jurisdiction. The permit issued to operators by the MMDA applies to the whole license area and not to specific routes. This means that drivers are more likely to pick and choose profitable routes with high commuter demand, which is common, particularly in the intra−city segment. This also highlights the significant role that transport unions play in the Ghanaian transport sector. The absence of regulatory route allocation has resulted in transport unions such as the GPRTU, which control 85 to 90 percent of the market, allocating routes among the wide range of private players in the market based on preference and ability to lobby.
Government Response: Procurement of buses
The government’s response to this crisis has been to promise the delivery of more buses to solve the problems. We are told that the MMT is expected to take delivery of over 350 new buses (350 Toyota Hiace, 100 Toyota Coaster, and 50 cargo trucks) by late January or the first week of February 2026. On Friday, when Her Excellency the Vice President Prof Jane Naana Opoku- Agyeman met with transport operators and promised that “the government will deploy new high-occupancy buses to support public and private operators and ease the worsening transport congestion.”
There are some fundamental problems that we need to solve. It is always better to attempt to solve a problem from the first principle.Because we have failed in providing a predictable and sustainable urban transportation system, everyone wants to acquire a private car. This is never sustainable in any city. Our public transport system should be able to convince more than 70% of people with their own cars to park their cars and ride the public buses and trains. Unfortunately, the current status quo does not give any incentive to middle-class city dwellers to rely on the trotros.
Why this Crisis Goes Beyond the Procurement of Buses?
The action by the government to procure more buses to augment the fleet of Ayalolo, MMT and that of other private sector operators is necessary but not sufficient to solve the crisis in the medium to long haul.
Procurement of buses is not the only antidote. Most of the VIP buses procured in 2007 and 2008 are still fully functional and working on the road. The same thing cannot be said of MMT, STC and Ayalolo. The managers of these publicly funded bus and coach companies deliberately run these buses down and sell them at scrap. I am not sure one can find buses belonging to MMT and STC procured in 2010. Because of the over-politization of these companies and the appointment of party loyalists who do not have any competencies to manage these companies, the state keeps on hemorrhaging cash, whilst the organized VIP and OA buses thrive in the midst of a hostile economic environment.
The problem we face in Accra is a dysfunctional transportation system. The problem is two-fold: namely, the software and the hardware. The software portion of the problem is about lack of an efficient public transportation policy and system for major cities like Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and others. No serious city in the world has mortgaged its urban transportation into the hands of private sector players alone. The cities plan their transportation needs, determine routes, frequency of services and the type of buses that must operate in their catchment. Whether it is in London, New York, Pittsburgh, Tokyo, Bangkok, Boston or even in Johannesburg, city mayors are very much involved in urban transportation planning. The cities invest resources in keeping the public transport system working effectively. This is because, if the urban transportation were to fail, the city would fail. Imagine the city of London without buses and the underground train, and the city would practically grind to a halt. The same applies to any forward-looking cities. This explains why central and local governments always invest in public transportation through the construction of new lanes and provision of buses and trains and the deployment of technology to enhance the operation of these buses and trains.
In Ghana, the government’s role has been passive, firefighting and again just procuring buses. The government can procure 1500 buses for Accra, however, without relevant policies, coordination, and best practices, crisis we are facing today would emerge again in the next 5 years and the majority of these buses would be sold as scrap.
What can the government do?
The solution to the problem is not only the procurement. A lot of policy and planning must go into our action.
First, since the old Accra Metropolitan Assembly has been divided into multiple sub- districts and municipalities, it would be great if we could consider setting up an Accra City Transportation Authority. Greater London has 32 boroughs (assemblies) and yet the transportation in the city of London is planned and coordinated by Transport for London (TFL). The current fragmentation does not help with coordination and planning.
Secondly, to help manage demand and supply, the government needs to revisit the LI 2180 of 2012 (under Regulation 121). Buses and trotros must be licensed to operate on specific routes only. By harnessing data from the Population and Housing Census, we can optimally determine the number of buses and trotros for particular routes.
Thirdly, the government must understand that urban transportation is an essential lifeline of every city. This requires sufficient investment into infrastructure like new dedicated lanes, new buses, terminals, and even financial support.
Finally, we need to retool the assemblies, resource the transport department, and overhaul the enforcement mechanisms.
About the Author
