On November 19th, 2024, Ghana’s former President Nana Akuffo Addo, commissioned a new flyover interchange at Spintex, an area in Accra known for having high traffic congestion during peak hours.
The interchange, which started construction in 2017, is an 800-meter dual carriageway aimed at easing traffic congestion at the busy “Flower Pot” intersection in Accra.
The project was to improve connectivity for commuters traveling between Cantonments, Burma Camp, East Legon, Spintex, and Tema.
The project is estimated to have cost to have cost over GHC 1 billion.
Although seen as a project that could help reduce the congestion in Accra, there has been some skepticism of the long-term effects of easing traffic.
Despite numerous promises, projects, and constructions over the years, Accra commuters still face heavy traffic congestion when commuting to work and traversing home.
Some estimations revealed that commuters spend about two and a half hours in traffic.
These numbers could go up in the future due to Accra’s increasing population.
According to data from a 2020 census report, Accra has grown to a population of 5,455,692, an increase of 227% from the last census in 2010 when the population was 1,665,086.
To better navigate the city for work and other activities, commuters who have the financial means buy private vehicles to travel to their various destinations.
As of the end of 2022, there were approximately 3.2 million registered vehicles in Ghana, according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).
Estimates say 50% of those vehicles are registered in Accra which will total about 1.6 million vehicles.
With this many vehicles in Accra, congestion for commuters will only increase in the future unless local officials devise a plan to improve and scale Accra’s poor public transportation system.
The State of Public Transportation
Accra commuters have some options when it comes to transportation around the city.
Minibusses, popularly known as “trotros”, currently serve as the backbone of the city’s public transport.
These makeshift buses ferry passengers along predetermined routes and are often the quickest, albeit the most chaotic, means of getting around Accra.
Although the most cost-effective for many, trotros are hardly the safest or most convenient.
Commuters, limited by these options, lament about the limited capacity of trotros, as well as the inconveniences they come with.
“The [trotros] are not convenient and not time-conscious. Also, the seats are not comfortable and the issue of overloading occurs.” said 27-year-old Marie, an Accra resident we spoke to about her daily commute using trotros.
Ekeme, another daily commuter, also bemoaned the state of the public transportation system in Accra and how the bad state of the economy has started affecting commuting.
“Public transportation in Accra has become expensive due to the price hikes of fuel. Due to the high demand for ‘troski’, the drivers are taking advantage of it to charge exorbitant fares,” she said.
Some load the buses on short trips and by the time you get to your destination, you’ll end up paying two to three times your original fare.”
Over the years, local officials have tried to implement solutions to ease congestion with public transportation, albeit to no avail.
Public Transportation Projects
One mode of transportation officials have been trying to modernise is Accra’s public bus system.
In 2016, the local government introduced a Bus Rapid Transportation System (BRT) to help with public commuting. The $94 million project was aimed at helping commuters get to and from their destinations on specialized lanes meant for BRT vehicles.
However, the project hardly took off due to the incomplete construction of the specialized BRT lanes. The management of the BRT system also faced other hurdles including financial issues in 2018 which resulted in a driver’s strike and a suspension of services.
Currently, only a few BRT vehicles are in rotation in Accra but they are being used as normal buses instead of their intended use as rapid transport vehicles.
Aside from buses, local officials have looked to public rail transportation to help with daily commuting, with minimal success.
In 2010, city officials announced plans for a monorail system to help with public transportation. The project was intended to transport about 700,000 riders a day and the estimated cost was about $1.5 billion.
But the project never left the planning stage and was ultimately shelved.
In 2017, officials announced another ambitious public train project called the “Skytrain”. The project would be a fully automated, elevated light railway metro network for Accra.
Its tracks would extend to different points in the city in a circular pattern, covering 194 kilometers in total.
The total estimate of the project was pegged at $2.4 billion.
Ultimately, the project failed to materialise due to financial feasibility and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Despite current issues, Ghana has some bright spots with its public train infrastructure.
Joseph, a worker at the Accra Brewery, is a frequent commuter on the Tema to Accra train route.
According to him, workers from COCOBOD, Graphic Ghana, and Accra Brewery board the train regularly, which saves them lots of money on fuel for their private vehicles.
Joseph stated that if local officials put more effort into the inner city train system, congestion on public roads could be reduced.
Can Public Transportation in Accra Ever Be Improved?
To improve public transportation in Ghana’s capital, there needs to be a lot of thoughtful planning for future commuting projects.
Government and city officials need to look not only at the construction of roads but also consider inclusive designs of future road projects and how they connect to the rest of the city.
In more developed cities like Houston in the US, certain roads have dedicated High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes for buses. These lanes also encourage “carpooling” where private vehicles with more than one occupant can traverse to get to their various destinations.
These lanes are monitored with dedicated cameras which observe for infractions. Vehicles with lone drivers are ticketed and fined for misusing the lane.
Until officials start thinking outside the box and incorporating different designs into their road networks and projects, commuting in Accra will only get worse as the population expands.
The newly constructed Spintex flyover could be a temporary relief for some commuters, but it’s hardly the model officials should use for easing congestion and improving public transportation in Accra.
If better planning is not incorporated, public commutes will continue to suffer and residents of Accra will be worse off for it.
