For months now, every morning and evening in Accra and some major cities in Ghana screams the same story; the story of the country’s frustrating and distressing transportation woes.
Commuters in Ghana, mostly workers and students, and even private road users, wake up early, hopeful they might beat traffic, only to find themselves locked in hours-long gridlock. Engines idle, tempers rise, fuel burns, and productivity drains away.
It has become a daily toll on time, income, and mental well-being. Apart from the gridlocks, getting vehicles for public transport users has virtually become a matter of luck. Stations and bus stops have been hit with a scarcity of vehicles, leading to long queues at peak and productive hours.
This is the ordeal of many Ghanaians, taking a toll on their mental and emotional health, productivity, and finances of the affected.
The Government’s Intervention: Minibuses
Given the problems, the announcement by the government of the importation of minibuses to ease the burden sounds like a step in the right direction.
However, it appears that the importation of buses is not really going to solve the problem, but simply mask it.
On the surface, more buses should mean more transport options and less congestion. Yet, for many urban planners and road users, the reality is far more complicated.
The Real Problems
As many urban planners, experts, and ordinary road users have observed, increasing the number of vehicles on already-strained roads is not the solution to the situation.
For some concerned Ghanaians, it can even worsen the very problem it seeks to fix. The challenge, as critics point out, is not just about the number of buses. It is about how Ghana’s cities are built, and how transport systems are managed within them.
As a road user, Dickson Assan narrates, take Accra’s bustling corridors like Spintex Road. He observes that what was once a relatively free-flowing stretch has transformed into a commercial artery lined with malls, offices, and residential developments, often with little coordination or long-term planning.
In some areas, major developments sit just meters apart, each generating traffic that feeds into the same narrow road network.
The conditions of the road also compound the problem. Potholes, exposed manholes, and uneven surfaces slow traffic, damage vehicles, and increase maintenance costs for both drivers and transport operators.
Over time, these inefficiencies ripple across the economy, raising the cost of moving people and goods.
Is Importation of More Minibuses the Solution?
Dickson Assan, therefore, offers a blunt assessment that importing minibuses to fix Ghana’s transport challenges is like prescribing painkillers to a patient who needs surgery.
“How do you solve chronic transport inefficiency with imported minibuses? That is like prescribing painkillers for a patient who needs surgery. The disease remains untouched,” he maintained.
He argues that without addressing the root causes, the symptoms will continue to persist.
According to Assan, the deeper issue lies in poor spatial and urban planning. Cities are expanding rapidly, often without the infrastructure to support that growth. Residential areas, commercial hubs, and industrial zones are not properly integrated, forcing thousands of people onto the same few roads at the same time, every day.
Under such conditions, adding more buses may not ease congestion; it may intensify it. There is also the question of existing state transport systems. Ghana is not starting from scratch. Institutions like Metro Mass Transit and Intercity STC Coaches Limited were established to provide structured, large-scale transport solutions.
Yet, over the years, these institutions have struggled with underfunding, operational inefficiencies, and declining public confidence.
Past initiatives tell a similar story. Projects such as Ayalolo Bus System and Bus Transit Limited were launched with promise and ambition. Today, many of their buses sit idle, symbols of plans that failed to translate into sustained impact.
He therefore asks, “Why introduce new buses when existing systems are not functioning at full capacity?”
The Bottomline
For everyday commuters, the issue is not just about the availability of transport; it is about reliability, efficiency, and time. A commuter does not simply want a bus; they want to get to work on time, without spending hours in traffic.
That requires more than vehicles. It requires a system. A meaningful reform must start with better urban planning, which ensures that cities grow in a structured way that reduces unnecessary travel and distributes traffic more evenly. It must include investment in road infrastructure, maintenance, and traffic management systems.
And perhaps most importantly, it must involve strengthening existing public transport institutions to operate efficiently and at scale. Without these foundational changes, new buses risk becoming part of the problem rather than the solution.
