Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will launch government’s ‘Tap & Go’ transport system on Monday, February 19, 2024.
The initiative is designed to formalize and harmonize the informal transport sector through the implementation of proven and well-structured technology solutions.
It also forms part of government’s Digital Ghana Agenda, aimed at digitalizing the Ghanaian economy to ensure no one is left behind in contributing to and benefiting from national development.
The launch is scheduled to the take place at the head office of Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL) at 9:00 am on Monday, February 19, 2024.
A statement from the MMTL announcing the forthcoming launch, also indicated steps being taken to revolutionize public transportation in the country.
It said “this project will help to build a single system for the entire transport ecosystem for all the various transport operators to enhance efficiency and bring about transport fare stability in Ghana.”
Also Read: VIDEO: VeryPay eliminates complexities from payments with mobile money
In 2016, the previous government introduced a Tap n Go service in Ayalolo buses, which allowed passengers to purchase a card with a near field communication feature, on which money could be loaded from various sources, including mobile money, for payment of fares by swiping the card on a device fitted in the bus.
But the Ayalolo Tap n Go service was a closed-loop payment system built purposely for and limited specifically to Ayalolo.
Techfocus24 gathered that what the Vice President is about to launch is entirely different, because it was developed locally in collaboration with the whole of Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and is therefore more extensive, and an open platform for all transport operators in Ghana.
It has features to support taxi hailing, intercity bus services like Metro Mass, Aayalolo, STC, VIP etc, and soon it will trotro services.
Techfocus24 also gathered that unlike with the Ayalolo, the new system allows one card to be used for payments on all forms of transport for a life time. So, users don’t need to purchase new cards for every trip.
It also eliminates expenses made on printing tickets and also saves travelers the hustle of having to pre-book tickets for Intercity travels.
Read more about the Tap n Go service here.
The challenge however, is whether commercial drivers in Ghana will be willing to use the service since they have proven not to like the use of technology in their work. The way out may be to make the it compulsory for the purposes of monitoring for taxation.
The other challenge would be maintenance of the Tap and Go platform and its related costs as well as commissions for the use of the platform.
Already, users of Apps belonging to popular ride hailing companies like Uber, Bolt and Yango have been complaining about high commissions and have been fighting for reduction. It will be interesting to see how that kind of scenario will play out when the new Tap and Go system goes nationwide, that is even if government will be able to scale it to the level of the existing private ones.
