Transport-Land Use Research Study - Millennium Cities Initiative ...

The Accra Pilot BRT: Transport-Land Use Research Study
Millennium Cities Initiative and Accra Metropolitan Assembly
Increasing the attractiveness of Kaneshie for commercial, residential, and office development.
The BRT corridor network plan could induce transit-oriented planning, whereby clustered commercial,
residential and office development would take place at the bus stations along the network. Property owners
would gain from the increased valuation of house prices. In addition, storeowners would see more economic
activity from people‟s enhanced mobility. Furthermore, already thriving areas, such as Kaneshie Market and
Abossey Okai, could receive economic boosts from increased customer accessibility.
The GOG would benefit from the increased tax revenue generated by new development. This revenue could
in turn support infrastructure construction costs (e.g. roadway improvements, bus shelters, information
technology needs), capital costs for new buses, operations and maintenance costs, overhead expenses and
enforcement costs to prohibit the use of dedicated lanes by other traffic.
Potential Negative Impacts (Costs) for Stakeholders
Passengers likely paying higher fares for the BRT than for existing modes of mass transit.
The BRT will promote efficient, safe and reliable service, but passengers will likely have to pay higher fare
levels vis-à-vis other forms of mass transit (e.g. tro-tros). One proposed fare schedule for the BRT is the use
of fare levels by zones, at the levels of 2, 3 and 4 Ghana cedis (US $1.39, $2.09 and $2.79 respectively)
(Mott McDonald, 2010). Given these relatively high costs, potential passengers would have to weigh the
benefits of riding the BRT (e.g. reduced travel time, comfortable travel, safety), against the monetary fare
value. An additional cost is that passengers on the pilot BRT could lose the flexibility that tro-tros provide by
enabling them to board and alight at numerous points between the more formal tro-tro stops.
Increasing congestion at Kaneshie can result if land use and transport misuses continue unabated.
Introducing dedicated BRT lanes will reduce the number of lanes available for mixed automobile traffic from
three to two, on both sides of the road. If the current mismanagement of land use and transport in Kaneshie is
not addressed, this could increase congestion and accessibility challenges as available road space is reduced.
Commercial business owners already experience substantial challenges in their distribution activity, and
commercial buses queue and board passengers, resulting in the misuse of an entire lane on each side of
Winneba Road. If these activities are not planned for within the scheme of the BRT development, they could
place further strain on the road space.
The pilot BRT serving as part of the urban mass transit sector reforms.
At present, the GPRTU commands authority and makes decisions on behalf of its members. The new
regulation system would take over the current regulatory powers that the GPRTU now possesses, meaning
the union would lose its current regulatory authority within the urban transport system.
Additionally, GPRTU members are vulnerable toward the implementation of the pilot BRT because their
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