Free rides on Metro Mass buses still available

Schoolchildren throughout the country have been reminded of the availability of free rides on board Metro Mass Transit (MMT) buses.  

The rides enable schoolchildren in both primary and junior high schools in all the 10 regions to enjoy the service to and from school without paying any fare whatsoever each day.

The Head of Communications of the MMT, Mr Eric Boadi-Misa, who made this known in an interview with the Junior Graphic, said schoolchildren must always be in their uniforms to enjoy the free service.

He added that there were designated bus stops where the buses were required to stop and pick up or discharge passengers and stressed that schoolchildren should ensure they stood at those bus stops.

Mr Boadi-Misa complained that in some cases the schoolchildren refused to wait at the bus stops and expected the drivers to stop anywhere to pick them.

According to him, the MMT had 420 routes across the country, as well as mandatory bus stops which had been earmarked for schoolchildren and passengers and asked the schoolchildren to take note of that.

He admitted that the patronage of the free bus service had not been encouraging but gave the assurance that the service was ongoing and encouraged schoolchildren to take advantage of it.

He said the management of the MMT had about 732 operational buses which went out to pick passengers every day and hinted that 330 additional buses would be procured by the end of the year to increase its fleet.

Mr Boadi-Misa said if there was a problem with a particular route, passengers would be informed about the change in that route early enough, so that they did not miss the services of the buses.  

He said the introduction of the MMT service was one of the social intervention programmes aimed at providing people with affordable transport to make it convenient for citizens to move from one place to another.  

He announced a help line—(0800-10-400 toll free) through which passengers could channel their grievances and get solutions.

Since the free bus rides by the MMT began in 2006, about 367,416,203 children had patronised the services.

The introduction of the free bus service for schoolchildren has brought some relief to both schoolchildren and their parents.

Initially, the service started in eight of the 10 regions of the country but was later extended to cover the Upper East and Upper West regions.