Developing an integrated approach to addressing mobility and accessibility and minimizing externalities Improving existing transport modes by rationalizing and reorganizing

The government of Ghana should establish urban mobility demonstration projects that successfully integrate private sector financing to whet the appetite of investors. The experience of the quality bus service in the Amasaman corridor in Accra created a negative precedent in the sector because the government (1) was not able to initiate the measures required to establish predictability of revenues for operators and (2) proceeded with changes in the structure of the project without considering the financial implications for the operations. The required measures include regulating tro-tro operations in the corridor, creating bus priority measures to make buses more attractive than tro-tros, and enforcing public transport and traffic management regulations. Furthermore, the Amasaman quality bus service project saw sudden changes by the end of the project in the procurement of rolling stock1 without a defined business model and without involvement of operators who were originally envisaged to participate in the financing. This led to undesired consequences for the financial sustainability of the operations and created a precedent of unpredictability of government direction, which is viewed as critical to attracting investment. A successful demonstration or pilot project by the government will positively change the views of investors.

DEVELOPING AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO ADDRESSING MOBILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY AND MINIMIZING EXTERNALITIES

In developing an urban transport system that facilitates access to jobs and social services, Ghanaian cities should focus on the “complete streets” approach (box 5.2), which consists of the following elements:

1. A hierarchically integrated transit system that provides citizens with accessible, affordable, and acceptable public transport.

2. A quality network of sidewalks, pedestrian-centered traffic management and crossings, bike lanes to enhance local connectivity to communities, and integration with other modes.

3. Steps to fill in the gaps in the road network hierarchy in order to balance the number of main, secondary, tertiary, and community roads.

4. Implementation of transport demand management plans to encourage the use of greener and more sustainable transport modes (public transport, nonmotorized transport, fewer private vehicles), implement parking management, and implement policies to reduce the number of trips and their length, among other things.

5. Participation of urban mobility in the response to COVID-19. Such participation, which is essential, should be integrated into and aligned with the rest of the actions noted earlier. COVID-19 has reinforced the urgency of transport reforms (table 7.1).

All these interventions should take into account the needs of vulnerable groups (see table 5.2).