The Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE) has intensified efforts to increase the number of buses available for its Aayalolo contra-flow service.
The effort is to enable the company to meet growing passenger demand and support plans to extend the initiative to more corridors in the Greater Accra Region.
The Managing Director of GAPTE, Dawuda Awudu, who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Thursday, said the organisation was repairing broken-down buses and engaging the sector minister to explore the possibility of acquiring additional vehicles to strengthen operations.
“We are trying as much as possible to repair, and the repairs are still going on at the depot. We would be able to add to ease the pressure,” he said.
The contra-flow system was introduced on September 29, 2026, to ease passenger congestion in Accra during peak hours of the day.
Currently, it operates on three major corridors, namely: Accra-Adenta, Accra-Kasoa and Accra-Amasaman.
Mr Awudu said the system had significantly reduced commuting times and improved mobility since its introduction some two weeks ago.
He indicated that the initiative had attracted considerable patronage because of its efficiency and reliability, creating pressure on the available fleet, particularly during peak hours.
He said the organisation was assessing the performance of the existing corridors before extending the service to other routes, with safety and adequate bus availability remaining key considerations.
Mr Awudu said commuters travelling from Adenta to Accra’s Central Business District (CBD), who previously spent about two hours in traffic, could now complete the journey in an average of 28 minutes during the morning peak period.
Similarly, travel time from Amasaman to the CBD had reduced from more than three hours to about 35 minutes, while the Kasoa corridor recorded an average journey time of approximately 50 minutes.
He said the improvements were benefiting workers, traders and students while helping to reduce congestion on major roads.
Mr Awudu explained that the primary objective of the service was to improve public mobility rather than maximise revenue, describing the initiative as a social intervention aimed at making transportation more accessible and affordable.
“Our profit is translated into easing congestion in Greater Accra and enhancing mobility,” he said.
On compliance, he said public education and sensitisation had improved motorists’ understanding of the system, while buses operated in convoys led by motorcyclists to enhance safety and alert oncoming traffic.
He urged commercial transport operators, private motorists and other stakeholders to support the initiative, stressing that cooperation was essential to sustaining its benefits.
“Our focus has always been to ease congestion,” he said.
Mr Awudu assured the public of GAPTE’s commitment to improving service reliability and expanding the system when operational capacity permitted.