Promote services of new bus system - patrons tell bus operators
Patrons of the Aayalolo buses in Accra are calling on managers of the buses, the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE), to increase the level of sensitisation and education about the usage of the e-payment cards and the operation of the buses.
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According to some of the passengers who spoke to the Daily Graphic, many people found it difficult using the cards, since they were not quite familiar with the system.
With the new system, passengers slot their cards on machines fixed at the driver’s side and the exit point before they enter or leave.
“We have always known payment using physical cash whenever we join commercial vehicles. So to introduce a new system without proper education makes the system unfriendly to us as users,” Ms Florence Avorti said.
“I strongly believe that this new system is a good idea; even though some of us now find it difficult using it, I believe as time goes on we will get used to it,” another stated.
Patronage
Some also expressed concerns about the low patronage, which they believed was the result of the lack of proper education about the existence and operation of the buses.
“I believe that the operators of the buses should intensify advertisements of the services of the new bus system,” Mr Godwin Quaye told the Daily Graphic.
When the Daily Graphic team boarded one of the buses from the Central Business District (CBD) from Accra in the early hours of last Friday to Tesano junction, they observed that patronage was generally low.
However, the situation improved around 5 p.m. when a lot of people boarded the buses from the CBD to their various destinations in the capital city.
Explaining the level of patronage of the buses, the Public Affairs Manager of GAPTE, Mr Fred Chidi, said the situation had rather improved, as compared to previously.
“Initially, we hardly had passengers patronising the buses, but the situation has quite changed now, and we believe that things will improve as time goes on.
“We have projected 60 per cent patronage or more by the end of the year and we hope to achieve that successfully,” he noted.
Departure
Mr Chidi advised passengers to know the departure times of the various buses and be at the bus terminals at the scheduled time in order not to miss them.
He further noted that the new bus system had come to stay and called for collaboration between the public and the operators of the buses to make the venture successful.
Background
The BRT is under the Urban Transport Project (UTP) of the Ministry of Roads and Highways. It is jointly funded by the World Bank, Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), the Government of Ghana and the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund at a cost of $95 million. It is being implemented by the Ministries of Local Government and Rural Development, Roads and Highways and the Department of Urban Roads (DUR).
Processes towards the implementation of the BRT were started in 2007. However, between 2008 and 2009, it faced many difficulties, including stiff resistance from private transport operators.
Earlier, the DUR planned implementing an advanced type of BRT on the Accra-Mallam-Kasoa corridor.
That move resulted in the construction of a flyover across the railway line on the Graphic Road in Accra.