Electric BRT system to be piloted in Kumasi
Discussions are underway with officials of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to roll out Electric Bus Rapid Transport (BRT)system in the city, the Director Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Transport, Irene Messiba has hinted.
Government is moving to decarbonize the transport sector in line with global commitments and the National Energy Transition Plan 2022. To this end, the ministry has developed a draft Electric-Vehicle Policy to guide the deployment and upscale of electric vehicles in the country.
Transition to electric mobility presents an opportunity to re-draw the city’s emission and mobility pattern. City buses have a lifespan between 12-23 years, and therefore, today’s technological decisions will determine air quality and emission trajectories for decades to come.
It is in line with this policy, that the ministry of transport held a stakeholder consultative meeting with the media in Accra to solicit views on the deployment of the EV policy.
Addressing the media at the consultative meeting, Mrs. Irene Messiba said “We have started some conversations with Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA). Feasibilty study is currently ongoing once we get the bus lanes, we will concession the routes, we are going to use electric buses.
We think that once we put the public transport on the road and the buses are good, people will park their cars. Car is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity but if we have the public transport and it is decent, people would board the transport. We are seriously thinking of the mass transportation but then we are going to try Kumasi.”
Lessons learnt
According to Mrs.Messiba, government have learnt their lessons this time and do not intend to repeat mistakes made in Accra in the past.
“This time around, we have learnt lessons from Accra, so we don’t want to repeat the mistakes we made in Accra, once we are successful in Kumasi, we come back to Accra to implement, it is expensive but we know that is the way to go because even when we do the mass public transport system, naturally okada would fizzle off, because when you ask people why take board okada, they tell you they want to get to their destination fast.”
Transport is a significant emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollutants in most cities in Ghana.
Available data shows road transport alone contributes 45.4% to total fuel combustion emissions and accounts for 13% of the overall national GHG emissions in 2016, showing a rising trend of 42% in the last ten years. Of the total road transport GHG emissions of 6,051.4 metric tonnes in 2016, buses account for 21%. Also, buses account for 17% of the total PM2.5 emissions in the country.
BRT was initially introduced into the country in 2016 and was implemented under the Urban Transport Project.
Ghana is a lower-middle-income country and one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, with transport playing an important catalyst and strategic role in the economy. Ghana’s 4th GHG Inventory (2019) shows a significant growth in the energy sector, contributing 36% of emissions in 2016, with transport accounting for 48%. The government’s efforts are being undertaken to introduce full electric vehicles (EVs).
For instance, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning has promised incentives for imported EVs. Such targeted interventions can potentially lower the capital cost, which is very crucial to the uptake of EVs in Ghana.
Similarly, increased efficiency, improved operational economics, falling component costs, and generous government subsidies are propelling higher adoption.
