Accra's Traffic Woes: Why More Buses Are Not the Solution

Elvis Darko, Editor of Newscenta Newspaper, has cautioned that increasing the number of buses in Accra without expanding road capacity or introducing alternative transportation systems will only exacerbate the city’s congestion crisis. Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Monday, January 19, Darko argued that traffic congestion is not caused by the absence of buses but by structural constraints within the urban transport system. He noted that the current road network is already overstretched and incapable of accommodating additional vehicles. According to him, deploying more buses onto already congested roads will inevitably increase traffic, describing congestion as a “symptom” rather than the root problem. He stressed that without addressing the underlying causes of limited road space and overreliance on road-based transport, new bus procurements will offer little relief. As a solution, Darko renewed calls for the introduction of a light rail system, which he said would move large numbers of commuters without adding to road congestion, while improving efficiency and affordability across the transport network. “We have a problem that will not be fixed if we do not attack the causal factors. Traffic is only a symptom of a deeper situation, and deploying more buses into the system will only create additional congestion. “An effective transport system introduces the kind of competition that compels private operators to charge fair fares. The roads can no longer be expanded, so we need a light rail system,” he said. His comment comes in the wake of plans put in place by the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMT) to expand its fleet with the procurement of about 300 Isuzu buses by February 2026, as part of efforts to address the shortage of public transport vehicles in the capital.