The Accra Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive, Mohammed Nii Adjei Sowah, has suggested that a separate company be allowed to manage the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.
He said this module could mirror that of the State Transport Corporation (STC).
[contextly_sidebar id=”Vzi72CN0fvWCuOKe53eQrEUhM6xerXcN”]Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Adjei Sowah said the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE) did not have the financial muscle to also continue managing the BRT system.
GAPTE was intended to be meant to be a regulatory body, he noted.
“The GAPTE management is even supposed to be a regulatory body so we are looking at the institutional arrangement that is not favouring the operations now, so we need a separate institutional arrangement from operational issues.”
As things stand now, Mr. Adjei Sowah, who is also a the GAPTE Board Chair, said the BRT system was in dire financial straits.
“If you look at their present financials and the way they are operating, they can only break even in 2021,” he revealed.
But this outlook could be improved if the current BRT management structure is overhauled.
“The financials will be better when we are able to overhaul the system and ensure that the operational challenges are dealt with, and then realign the institutions to ensure that we have a dedicated company like any other company; like we have STC, Metro Mass,” Mr. Adjei Sowah.
He added that, GAPTE will “forward proposals to the ministry [of transport] and the ministry would have to decide.”
Mr. Adjei Sowah said the challenges facing the company running the Aayalolo bus service can be partly attributed to the fact that the previous Mahama government purchased too many buses in excess of what was needed, ahead of the roll-out of the service.
“According to the World Bank, which did a study, the number of buses the central government was supposed to buy to be on the project was around 80 buses or so…Unfortunately, the central government took the decision and bought three times more than the number of the buses at the cost of two-and-a-half times more than what the World Bank suggested to us. So they started the company with too many buses,” Mr. Adjei Sowah explained.
BRT bus drivers are currently on strike demanding better conditions of service and non-payment of salaries.
About the BRT
A BRT is a specialized bus-based mass transit system which uses dedicated lanes for fast movement within urban settlements.
In 2016 when Ghana’s BRT system began, operations were expected to be on Accra and Amasaman, Accra and Ofankor, Accra and Adentan, Accra and Tema and Accra and Kasoa routes.
It was later christened as the Quality Bus System (QBS) because the proposed BRT system did not meet international standards of having specially designed lanes.
The QBS management noted in 2017 that the programme had been operating at a loss since commercial services commenced in the capital, Accra.
At the time, reports indicated that about 197 out of the 245 Aayalolo buses imported into the country for the QBS have not been used since 2016.
–
By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
