After a series of meeting with stakeholders, the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE), managers of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) known as Aayalolo have decided to begin partial operation of their services.
In October 2018, operations of the Aayalolo bus service came to a halt as a result of some financial challenges and what managers then referred to as technical hitches.
Six months on, there is a partial resumption of operations to Kasoa; a deviation from the Achimota to Tudu stretch where a kilometre of that stretch was designated for their services.
The Board Chairman of (GAPTE), Mohammed Nii Adjei Sowah who also doubles as the Accra Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive said the decision to operate was arrived at although there are still some outstanding issues to be resolved.
“We have been holding meetings with all the stakeholders and the outcome is we have resumed partial operation while we are pursuing the other issues that are on the table so that at least the buses would be on the road. We have commenced partial operation, however, the financial issues have not been resolved. We have started running the Kasoa-Accra corridor at peak time,” he said.
Last year, Daily Graphic reported that over 150 Aayalolo buses had been grounded at the Achimota Bus Terminal in Accra, while another 60 deployed to Kumasi for use are yet to start operations.
It said the buses at the terminal had been grounded because the operators of the buses, the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE), can no longer bear the cost of fuel.
To overcome the challenge, GAPTE, according to Graphic, applied for a bailout from the government to help it pay for the cost of fuel, salaries and other operational costs, but the Ministry of Transport turned down the request.
Though a former board member of GAPTE, Sam Atukwei Quaye sought to blame the current administration for these challenges, Mr. Sowah dismissed the suggestion, saying the NPP government was not responsible for these challenges.
He was however quick to add that government is “engaging the Transport Ministry to revive the system.”
Patronage of the buses was quite high when the service began in 2016, but it started dwindling six months afterwards from the expected 12,000 passengers per day to 9,000.
Patronage on a daily basis currently ranges between 9,000 and 10,000 on the Amasaman-Ofankor-Achimota-Accra Central Business District (CBD) corridor.
Aside the low patronage, drivers of the Aayololo buses have embarked on a series of strike over unpaid salaries.
