Ghanaians continue to face delays in getting faster transportation to their homes before and after work due to the limited number of functional public buses in the country, especially during peak hours.
This has resulted in long queues at bus terminals, overcrowding, and increased waiting time for commuters in major cities and towns.
On the back of this, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Dorcas Affo Tuffie, in an interview at Adom FM, revealed that there are currently only 106 functional state buses operating nationwide.
She explained that the rest of the buses are nonfunctional and are currently at various repair shops.
According to her, the low number of working buses is a major reason for the transportation challenges being experienced by the public.
She noted that the shortage has made it difficult to meet the growing demand for public transport, particularly during the morning and evening rush hours.
She added that many workers and students depend on public buses to commute, and when the buses are not enough, movement becomes slow and pressure on the transport system increases.
The Deputy Minister stated that she plans to visit some of the most congested terminals and stations to assess the situation firsthand and ensure that work is done quickly to ease the pressure.
She added that by Monday many of the buses will be repaired “with the speed of light” to increase the number of functional buses on the roads.
She further explained that the Ayalolo bus system is under the management of the Local Government Ministry.
For this reason, she said the Minister of Transport is currently in dialogue with the Minister for Local Government to ensure that more Ayalolo buses are released to help reduce congestion, especially during peak hours.
Dorcas Affo Toffey assured Ghanaians that steps are being taken to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
She said that by Monday, calm is expected to prevail, as more buses would be deployed to improve transportation services across the country.
She called on commuters to remain patient while the government works to fix the challenges, stressing that the aim is to make transportation faster, safer, and more reliable for everyone.
By: Jacob Aggrey
