| |
In
2001, His Excellency the President directed the re-introduction of public
mass transport in the metropolitan and municipal areas to ensure safe,
affordable, efficient and reliable movement of Ghanaians. Since then, the
Government has been actively promoting public mass transportation.
In deed, the benefit accruing to the nation from the introduction of
a public mass transport system is immense.
The use of public mass transport systems will therefore make our
roads less congested, reduce air pollution and fuel consumption and
ultimately, Ghanaians will have a reliable and faster transport system.
Metro
Mass Transit Limited (MMT) was officially incorporated in 2003.
The shareholders include State Insurance Company, National Investment
Bank, Ghana Oil Company Limited, Agriculture Development Bank, Prudential
Bank and SSNIT. These together
have 55% shareholding. The
Government of Ghana holds the remaining 45% shares.
All
news, highlights and information about MMT can be found on MMT website at
http://www.metromass.com and you can
also write to us at
mmt@metromass.com.
Strategic Role of MMT
MMT
has been supporting the Government pro-poor policy by:
-
Charging lower fares thus making transport fares affordable to the poor.
-
Influencing and stabilising transport fares throughout the country.
-
Running on routes generally considered unattractive and unprofitable by
private transport owners, in terms of the state of road and patronage
-
Implementing the Free Bus Ride for School Children in uniform up to Junior High
School level.
Operational Areas
Since the introduction of the Metro Mass Transit, the following areas
have been benefiting from the services:
 Accra-Tema
Metropolitan Area
(kaneshie,
Adenta, Tema, Laterbiokorshie)
Kumasi
Takoradi
Tamale
Koforidua
Sunyani
Cape Coast
Agona Swedru
Ho
Wa
Bolgatanga
Akim Oda
Fleet Size
MMT at the moment has a fleet of buses made up of Yaxing, DAF, Neoplan VDL,
VDL Jonckhere, VDL Dutch, Iveco and Tata buses. It is expected that the fleet will
reach a thousand by the end of the year 2008.
| Fleet: |
Current Fleet January 2008 |
Expected in 2008 |
End of 2008 |
| Yaxing |
400 |
0 |
400 |
| Tata |
44 |
46 |
90 |
| DAF |
176 |
0 |
176 |
| VDL Neoplan |
100 |
76 |
176 |
| VDL Jonckheere |
123 |
90 |
213 |
| Fiat/Iveco |
8 |
0 |
8 |
| Total |
851 |
212 |
1,063 |
The
Fiat-Iveco buses were donated by the Italian Government and helped a great
deal during the pilot phase. These buses have played their part and are
being phased out.
The
Yaxing buses were manufactured in China and supported by the Ghana
Government. On the 13th of April,
2006, MMT received 150 Yaxing buses from the Ministry of Roads and Transport
(MRT) to augment the fleet of MMT. This brings the total number of Yaxing
buses received to date to 400 and it brings the total operational fleet of
MMT to over 600.
All DAF &
VDL buses have been financed through an ORET Grant agreement between the
Dutch Government and Ghana. 35% of
the value is a gift of the Dutch Government whilst 65% has been provided as
a loan. All DAF Neoplaan & VDL Neoplan buses are manufactured at the Neoplan
factory in Kumasi.
The Tata buses were manufactured in India and are facilitated by an agreement between
the governments of India
and Ghana.The buses were manufactured in India by Tata Motors
Passengers Carried
MMT
carried 2,055 passengers in 2002 (Oct.-December), 18,095 passengers in 2003,
15,950,101 passengers in 2004, 40,000,791 passengers in 2005, 52,959,160
passengers in 2006, 42,814,442 passengers in 2007 and as at March 2008 MMT
had carried 8,452,507 passengers. In total MMT has served 160,197,151
passengers nationwide since its operation in 2002.
Since the
start of the Free Ride for School Children in 2006, MMT has given 10,697,876
school children free ride. In 2006 6,174,227 school children were carried,
4,005,654 in 2007 and as at March 2008 had carried 517,995.
Other Operational Issues
A pilot
Bus Rapid Transit project in Accra, connecting Adenta with the Central
Business District and the Kwame
Nkrumah Circle, carrying over 20,000 passengers a
day commenced in September, 2005. Success-factors are the high frequency of
appearance (every 15 minutes a bus) and ticket selling in advance.
Free ride
for school children in uniforms (Primary and JSS) in all MMT buses
nationwide.University Campus Service at the
University
of Ghana, Legon,
Kwame
Nkrumah
University
of Science and Technology, Kumasi
and at the UDS Campus, Tamale.Special school bussing service in
Accra,
Swedru and Kumasi
(on commercial basis)
Other recent achievements of MMT include:
|
|
Free ride for school children in uniforms
(Primary and JSS) in all MMT buses nationwide |
|
|
University Campus Service at the University
of Ghana - Legon and to the UDS Campus Tamale |
|
|
Special school bussing service in Accra, Swedru and
Kumasi (on commercial basis) |
Also, the opening of the Opera Square Terminal has opened the way for the
construction of passenger waiting facilities at Accra- Bolgatanga.
New Routes in 2007
• Aflao- Kumasi
• Aflao- Elubo
• Ashaiman- Aflao
• Tamale- Gambaaga/ Nalerigu
• Bolga- Nalerigu
• Wa- Techiman
• Bolga- Techiman
• Accra- Asamankese
• Bunkrugu- Tamale
• Bole- Tamale
• Wa- Funsi
• Aflao- Accra
• Accra- Apirede Akwapim
• Kumasi- Cape Coast
• Oda- Accra
• Atebubu- Sunyani
• Cheriponi- Tamale
• Kumasi- Yeji
• Bimbilla- Tamale
• Accra- Akim Bomso
• Saboba- Tamale
• Cape Coast- Accra
Way forward
In
general, MMT wants to set up a public transport system, an integrated
network of scheduled buses. A
public transport system interlinking residential areas, business districts,
Central bus terminals, suburbs and villages in a reliable, efficient, safe
and affordable way.
The focus of MMT is
presently on the short and medium distances, i.e. intra-city transport. MMT
aims to co-operate closely with the Government to ensure that the pilot Bus
Rapid Transit System succeeds. A
Bus Rapid Transit System is the solution for heavily congested areas in the
capitals of Ghana
and that is why the current Bus Rapid Transit System of MMT will be copied
to other relevant areas. Ghana can be one of the forerunners in Africa that combines bus infrastructure with a frequent
bus service very effectively.
Free bus lanes are a dream for every commuter but as well for the various
police, ambulance and fire services.
Job Creations
MMT has
grown to be one of the major employers in Ghana.
MMT’s current staff strength of around 2,635 is expected to exceed
3000 by the end of 2008 with the arrival of about 212 buses by the end of
2008.
Janitorial services, security, bus washing and cleaning are outsourced to
third parties providing employment for additional 500 persons.
On
account of the construction of the buses in Kumasi, several indirect jobs have been
created in the manufacturing sector.
In
general productivity of the workforce in Ghana would increase, since MMT can
offer fast and reliable transport from home to the workplace.
Moreover, the operations of MMT would empower the Ghanaian community by
making job, shop, school and healthcare better accessible.
Moving the Nation
It is a shared responsibility of MMT and the citizens of Ghana to keep the
buses, in a good condition on the road.
MMT therefore, appeals to its passengers not to litter the buses and always insist on their ticket
Together we will Move the Nation!
Back to press reports
|
|
