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Institutional framework for interjurisdictional coordination
Ghana Urban Transport Project (GUTP), for example, included multiple ministries and MMDAs. Although the project supported the creation of coordination mechanisms such as the Urban Transport Advisory Committee (UTAC) and the Steering Committee for Urban Transport in Accra (SCUTA) that preceded GAPTE, these mechanisms were not effective because of lack of ownership of the reforms that could drive or lead these coordination mechanisms. Ambiguity of functions is another drawback. That is reflected in the newly created National Road Safety Authority, which has broad responsibilities for regulating public transport, but without yet full clarity on how its mandate complements the existing public transport regulatory functions under the MMDAs.
Urban growth within multiple jurisdictions and the repeated subdivision of MMDAs renders urban mobility planning and regulation difficult in areas with metropolitan commuting such as Accra and Kumasi. In Ghanaian metropolises, the interjurisdictional and institutional coordination needed to attain the required efficient and effective intracity, intercity, and regional connections are missing. MMDAs such as Accra and Kumasi have strong functional interaction between the periphery and the key commercial and administrative hubs located in the city center, but they are handicapped without proper metropolitan planning and without a transport system capable of providing access to people and goods in a safe, efficient, and affordable manner (see map 3.1 for Accra and Kumasi administrative boundaries). In Greater Accra, the number of MMDAs has increased from 4 to 29 because of repeated subdivision. A similar situation has affected Kumasi, adding complexity to the institutional framework.
Most of the needed institutional and regulatory building blocks to address urban mobility and develop public transport are already in place, but they have not been sufficiently developed or resourced. Thus they are unable to achieve their potential.
The creation of GAPTE marked a significant milestone in the development of interjurisdictional coordination for public transport in Ghana, although its core activity has been compromised to respond to short-term needs. GAPTE was formally established with a core staff in 2016. It was to act under the delegated authority of the assemblies in Greater Accra. However, GAPTE was not able to reach its full organizational strength, and its responsibilities became diluted. To date, GAPTE has primarily been responsible for initiating the Aayalolo bus services. The expectation is that once these services have become established, GAPTE can disengage from operations and begin to develop its role as a transport authority. Meanwhile, GAPTE faces important challenges in financial and human resources. It does not benefit from a secure line of funding, which threatens its viability. Moreover, although GAPTE’s staff has the adequate skills to carry out most of its functions, the staff is too small to fulfill the organization’s many missions. A more general difficulty facing GAPTE stems from the ambiguity of its position—halfway between a transport authority and a transport operator.
Greater Kumasi lacks any formal authority that could coordinate its constituent MMDAs for transport planning and regulation—neither a higher
