Public transport in Ghana

Public transport. Two seemingly simple words with several meanings. One meaning reads buses, trains and other forms of transport that are available to the public. Public can be explained as concerning or open to the people as a whole and transport takes or conveys from one place to another by means of a vehicle, aircraft or ship.

Public transport is the most popular means of moving from one place to another in most of the advanced countries in the world and is expressed physically through buses, the metro system which runs both underground and above ground and in more recent times, through high-speed trains as well. In many urban centres in Europe, North America, Asia and the Far East (including Australia and New Zealand), most people commute to work in public transport. The metro system in the developed countries, for example, carries more commuters daily than any other form of transport. Years ago, when I was a graduate student in Montreal, Canada, I was very surprised to learn that many people lived in Montreal and commuted to their offices in Ottawa because rent was more affordable in Montreal.  These people owned cars but commuted to work because public transport was very reliable and affordable. Public transport makes movement very easy, moves large numbers of people, facilitates trade, reduces congestion on the roads and also reduces pollution from vehicles in urban centres.  What do we find in Ghana?  What is the state of public transport in Ghana today?

The Ghanaian situation

Like housing, public transport has been provided over the years by both the central government and private individuals with a tilt towards the private sector.  Not too long ago, in the 1960s and 1970s,  the private sector provided service using primarily ‘trotro’ wooden trucks also known as mammy trucks or "bone shaker" by secondary school students in the country.  These wooden trucks had very interesting and philosophical statements written either on the back, sides or on the front wooden piece above the windscreen.  "NO TIME TO DIE," "FEAR WOMAN." "NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT, "DON'T MIND YOUR WIFE," " GHANA HARD" and several others which were philosophical, religious, worldly and mundane were all found on these trucks which carried passengers from one place to another across Ghana.  There were no mini-buses and there were few buses for long distance trips.Buses that carried passengers to and from the urban centres were few.  ADRA bus service was one of the most famous and most reliable public transport services that plied between the urban centres in the country. Today, mini-buses from the Far East, adapted 407 Mercedes Benz buses from Germany (which are not used for public transport in the home country anyway), big buses (also from the Far East) and taxis seem to dominate the private transport sector of the Ghanaian economy.

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