With Christmas just weeks away, Ghanaian cities are already feeling the festive rush. Streets are congested, public transport stations overflow with passengers, and shoppers are vying for limited space at bus and trotro stops.
For many commuters, the season brings a difficult choice: endure hours-long queues for affordable transport or pay a premium for faster travel.
For Jerry, a daily commuter in Accra, the season crunch became painfully real after work last Wednesday. He left his office in the early evening, expecting to catch a trotro home quickly. Instead, he was met with a long, snaking queue of passengers, all waiting for their turn. The line barely moved.
“I was stuck in a queue for almost two hours just waiting for a car,” Jerry told The High Street Journal. The frustration was compounded when he considered alternative options. Motorcycle ride-hailing services, such as Bolt, promised faster travel, but with the festive surge, fares had risen sharply.
“I wanted to take Bolt, but when I saw the price, it was too much, so I had to just endure and wait,” he added.
If that wasn’t enough, heavy rain began to fall, flooding parts of the station and making the wait even more uncomfortable. For Jerry, the combination of long lines, high fares, and rain turned what should have been a routine commute into an exhausting ordeal.
Ride-hailing services, including Bolt and Uber, have grown in popularity during the festive season because of their speed and convenience. However, the surge in demand often drives fares up, and traffic congestion can still slow riders down, meaning that even faster travel comes at a premium.
Many commuters face the same dilemma Jerry experienced: wait for public transport and pay little but lose hours, or pay more for speed and still risk delays. Some have resorted to hybrid strategies, taking trotros for longer stretches and hopping on motorcycles for the last mile, balancing affordability and convenience.
Month-on-month traffic congestion and crowded stations highlight the seasonal strain on urban mobility. In central urban hubs like Accra and Kumasi, queues and congestion are most pronounced, while in less busy regions, commuters face fewer delays but rising fares remain a concern.
The festive rush, while challenging for passengers, is a boon for ride-hailing drivers. Many report higher earnings during peak periods, taking advantage of the surge in demand. Yet, the benefits for drivers also underscore the tough decisions passengers must make, weighing cost, time, and convenience with each trip.
As the holiday season peaks, experiences like Jerry’s illustrate the human side of urban transport during peak periods.
Commuters are navigating crowded stations, flooded streets, rising fares, and traffic jams, while drivers are managing demand and optimizing earnings. In the end, the festive season shows just how much holiday demand shapes daily life and mobility in Ghanaian cities.
