Aayalolo Bus: The best has come to stay
Since the launch of the then Bus Rapid Transit System and now Quality Bus service, popularly called Aayalolo by then President John Mahama on June 22, 2016, Aayalolo has come to ease the stress associated with public transport system in Accra and I say kudos to him.
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Aayalolo has become my means of transport to and from work since it went fully operational September last year.
I must say that each and every Ghanaian should try have a ride on the Aayalolo buses. The drivers are real professionals who obey all road signs.
The comfort that comes with sitting in the buses, the nature of the interior and seats is non-comparable. This can partly be attributed to the provision of dustbins in the buses. With the air-conditioned nature of the buses, the feeling whilst in the bus can be compared to being around Peduase or Aburi early morning or late evening. I have witnessed that more and more middle class people are patronizing it.
Truth be told, the buses are fast because of the dedicated lanes created for them. You just need to press the bell when approaching the bus stop. The buses have voice systems that announce the next bus stops which aids the visually impaired, and the display as well which goes a long way to aid the hearing impaired. The buses also have reserved yellow seats for the aged, pregnant and lactating mothers.
My darling Citi FM recently reported that most people appear not to be boarding the Aayalolo Buses. Whilst disagreeing with their story, it is important to state the comments and suggestions by some of the people interviewed during the news item are valid.
Like any other public means of transport, Aayalolo has its peak time during the day. I can say without any fear of equivocation that the peak times for Aayalolo are mornings and evenings. I am sure you understand why. I would have wished that Citi FM did its interview during those hours though.
With the successes of Aayalolo so far, there are a few challenges that have to be addressed.
Aayalolo does not display its fares in the buses so that passengers will know the actual fares that they are supposed to pay. Since it is a software that they are using, it is possible that patrons can be overbilled. Passengers have no way of detecting if they are overbilled.
You can top up your Aayalolo card via mobile money, which is a very good thing. Interestingly, when you load with mobile money, it takes more than 1 hour for it to reflect on the card. This denies you of the opportunity to board the buses if you have no credit on it.
Most of the buses are no longer air conditioned and even the WiFi was only introduced on 1 bus out of the numerous buses, and that was even for just about 3 days. This is creating the impression that Aayalolo is deceiving its passengers, and interestingly no one can tell what the next deceit will be if this experience of the air conditioned buses and free WiFi is anything to go by.
Again, sometimes the top-ups do not reflect on the card even after getting notifications of the deductions from your network provider. I have been a victim of this, I complained to Aayalolo via call and WhatsApp, where I sent them screenshots of the message from my network provider. They asked me to come to their office, which I did and I was told to come the following day. The rest is history and I have since stopped loading via mobile money.
The passengers do not have any means of checking their balances unless they board the bus. This is not the best. You could swipe the card on the validators only to see “Insufficient Balance”, which can sometimes be embarrassing.
Some drivers use the dedicated lanes for the buses. This defeats the purpose of the Quality Bus Service.
Aayalolo is my means of transport, and I just love it. No troski ‘wahala’ with mates pretending to forget to your change, sometimes spraying you with the ‘nice perfume’ under their armpits, shouting for driver to stop, and waiting for minutes and hours in ‘trotros’ at bus stops, where the Urvan buses will not move an inch until they are fully loaded.
What is the way forward?
Aayalolo should as a matter of urgency, work on the internet connectivity of their servers and validators so as to avoid instances where it takes a long time for the cards to read when swiped on the validators. This is without prejudice to the fact that Aayalolo has deployed a very good technological infrastructure which uses solar.
Aayalolo should display the transport charges on all buses such that when passengers become aware they can tell when they are overbilled by the software. They should equally work on resolving passengers’ complaint concerning top-ups via mobile money as well.
Aayalolo might also consider introducing hiring services for schools and other institutions when the need arises.
I am of the opinion that considering the number of vehicles parked at the ministries together with the number of people who work there, it will not be a bad idea for Aayalolo to introduce a dedicated service for the Ministries area. For instance, they could have about 4 buses that get to the Ministries by 7, 8, 9 and 10 am and start leaving the Ministries by 4.30, 5, 7 and 8 pm. It is important to state that this will not affect the original routes of the buses significantly, that is the Amasaman route. This, I believe will be of immense benefit not only to Aayalolo but also to the numerous civil and public servants residing along the Accra - Amasaman route.
Aayalolo ought to see to it that the services they advertised at the launch, which were mainly the air conditioned buses and the free WiFi are running.
I am also recommending that Aayalolo partners with certain banks and financial institutions such that they could top-up the Aayalolo Cards, as well as make it possible to top-up via your bank account.
The Quality Bus Service, or Aayalolo is a very good one, highly efficient, and the comfort in the bus is non-negotiable. I hope it can be replicated on the Accra-Kasoa route, and other parts of the Greater Accra Region
The Aayalolo has come to stay and we must all ensure that it works effectively and efficiently.
I recommend Aayalolo to you any day, any time.
Don’t waste time, go get your Aayalolo Card.
Aayalolo, wƆ tee
Written by Cliff Atadika
Email: [email protected]