FINDING SOLUTIONS TO ROAD TRAFFIC CONGESTION OF ACCRA IN GHANA
The study delves into the challenges of traffic congestion in Accra, Ghana, offering comparative insights with urban transport systems in Cairo, Nairobi, Tunis, Cape Town, and Lagos. It explores historical background, population impacts, motivations, research questions, and recommendations for addressing the issue.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
You are allowed to download the files provided on this website for personal or commercial use, subject to the condition that they are used lawfully. All files are the property of their respective owners.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
FINDING SOLUTIONS TO ROAD TRAFFIC CONGESTION OF ACCRA IN GHANA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY WITH THE URBAN TRANSPORT SYSTEMS OF CAIRO, NAIROBI, TUNIS, CAPE TOWN AND LAGOS (KNOWLEDGE SHARING AFTER FURTHER STUDIES) MARTIN NARTEH NORTEY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR I MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT
PRESENTATION OUTLINE Background Introduction Motivation Research Questions Literature Review Methodology Conceptual Framework Elements of Comparison Findings Conclusion Recommendation Challenges
BACKGROUND Urban transportation in Accra dates back to the year 1927 when ten Dennis buses were introduced by the British to the then Gold (Okoye, Sands, & Debrah, 2010). Three main state-owned establishments; State Transport Corporation (STC), the City Express Service (CES) and the Omnibus Services Authority (OSA), These were responsible for the operation of bus services under the Ministry of Transport and Communication of the time, which together, formed the public transport service of the country (Fouracre, Kwakye, Okyere, & Silcock, 1994). After their collapse, donor institutions prescribed structural adjustment program which eventually led to the privatization of public transport with the paratransit services taking over these functions (Kwakye and Fouracre, 1998)
Introduction Rapidly increasing population in Accra due to its significance: administrative and commercial capital Accra houses several institutions including Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Head offices of financial institutions Offices of International organizations Institutions drawing people to the city centre Rural-urban migration Migrants seek job opportunities or Higher education Overstretched road infrastructure Leading to severe road traffic congestion
Motivation 1. Many commuters within Accra have resorted to the patronage of commercial motorbikes due to the severe traffic conditions in the capital city. 2. The practice is however endangering lives and motorbike accidents have risen to become the number one cause of fatality on the road, with an increase of 12.74% in crashes from 3,487 to 3,903 between 2017 and 2018. 3. The road traffic regulations of Ghana, L.I. 2012 (L.I. 2180), regulation 128 (1,2,3) prohibits the use of motorcycles for commercial purposes (passenger transport)
Research Questions To guide the research, the following questions were asked: 1. What factors account for the vehicular traffic congestion typically in Accra and how do these impact on the functioning of the metropolis? 2.How is urban transport planning undertaken in the selected cities? 3.What feasible policy recommendations, including those that can be adopted from the selected cities, can address this challenge?
Literature Review 1. Handy, Boarnet, Ewing, & Killingsworth, 2002 Travel Behaviour (microeconomic theory) 2. Oppong-Yeboah & Gim, 2020 Reasons for rural-urban migration (To Accra) 3. Bull & Thomson, 2002 (Characteristics of urban centres that cause traffic congestion) 4. Brookins,2019 (Urban transportation in Ghana) 5. Harriet, T., Poku, K., & Emmanuel, A. K. (2013). (An Assessment of Traffic Congestion and Its Effect on Productivity in Urban Ghana).
Methodology The research design is descriptive. This exercise entailed a comparison of the urban transport system of the city of Accra in Ghana with cities of the five other African countries; Nairobi in Kenya Lagos in Nigeria, Cape Town in South Africa, Tunis in Tunisia and Cairo in Egypt Focusing on Urban Planning, Urban transport governance, transport services, Transport Infrastructure and Traffic Management and Control
Analysis of Accra case Contributing factors to traffic congestion of Accra Limited rail network High Concentration of Vehicles in the Urban Centre of Accra Outmoded Traffic Management System Urban Transport Governance Challenges Rural Urban Migration
Analysis of Accra case Existing Railway Network of Ghana and Date of Construction
Analysis of Accra case Vehicles registered in the Regional Capitals (Urban Centres) of Ghana (2000-2019) 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 YR 2000 YR 2001 YR 2002 YR 2003 YR 2004 YR 2005 YR 2006 YR 2007 YR 2008 YR 2009 YR 2010 YR 2011 YR 2012 YR 2013 YR 2014 YR 2015 YR 2016 YR 2017 YR 2018 YR 2019 ACCRA KUMASI TAKORADI SUNYANI K'DUA CAPE COAST HO TAMALE BOLGA WA
Analysis of Accra case Vehicles registration by category (2000-2019) 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 - YR 2000 YR 2001 YR 2002 YR 2003 YR 2004 YR 2005 YR 2006 YR 2007 YR 2008 YR 2009 YR 2010 YR 2011 YR 2012 YR 2013 YR 2014 YR 2015 YR 2016 YR 2017 YR 2018 YR 2019 MOTOR CYCLE PMV ABOVE 2000 CC R/C TRUCKS UPTO 16TONS ART TRUCKS ABOVE 24-32 TONS CONS EQUIP TRICYCLE CMV ABOVE 2000 CC R/C TRUCKS FROM 16-22 TONS ART TRUCKS ABOVE 32 TONS MINING EQUIP PTE MV UPTO 2000CC PRIVATE BUSES & COACHES R/C TRUCKS ABOVE 22 TONS TRACTOR & EQUIPMENT COMM MV UPTO 2000CC COMM BUSES & COACHES ART TRUCKS UPTO 24 TONS COMBINE HARVESTERS
Elements of Comparison Urban Planning A decision-making process in which goals and objectives are established, existing resources and conditions analyzed, strategies developed, and controls enacted to achieve the goals and objectives as they relate to city and community development (Davidson & Dolnick, 2004). Urban transport governance Is there an authority for Urban transport? Transport services Availability of means of transport such as scheduled BRT buses, train, tram and whether public or privately dominated. Transport Infrastructure and Availability of roads, railway lines etc. Traffic Management and Control Availability of state-of-the art traffic management equipment and qualified personnel. Traffic lights, cameras to identify offenders etc.
Findings from Comparison with urban transport systems of selected cities Lagos applied a modern method of urban planning as the future of urban planning in the city {The Lagos Geographical information system (LAGIS)}- Detects land use Urban planning done at city level for all cities. All the other cities facing severe traffic congestion are moving towards establishing metropolitan authorities to manage urban transportation Cities focusing on BRT service and dedicated lanes for this purpose. Development and expansion of their railway systems All cities had fairly good traffic management and control mechanisms Accra s transportation infrastructure underdeveloped in relation to the other cities.
Conclusion Urban transportation in the city of Accra has been marred with several downturns resulting from inappropriate policy decisions As per the findings, the study concludes that the mass transit system of the city of Accra is underdeveloped in relation to all the other cities The unavailability of a good passenger rail system and an effective BRT system has put undue pressure on the roads in comparison with the passenger transport by BRT and passenger rail in more successful cities like Cape Town.
Recommendations In the short-term Prioritization of Transportation Research Enforcement of Bus lane Absorption of paratransit drivers and assistants into the state-owned BRT Development of Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) In the long-term Development of the Railway mode
CHALLENGES In general the research helped realize some very useful findings on the subject and has brought about more understanding in relation to the history behind the current situation in the city of Accra. However, the research did not progress without challenges and these challenges border around the following areas: Time limitation Aggregated data (data on road infrastructure in respect of the six cities was aggregated in national terms and irrelevant for current year comparisons, thus, posing challenges for the comparison) Unavailability of traffic data for Accra and selected cities
END OF PRESENTATION THANK YOU
