On this day, among Accra's heavy Monday morning traffic, exacerbated by early rain, we are caught up in the familiar yet arduous experience of endless waits for the next available Trotro (minibus share taxis). Taller, one of these infamous 'roadside legends,' on the other hand, is busy running what appears to be a personal seat reservation business, foolishly protecting first row seats for passengers, Trotro by Trotro—as if they had an exclusive pre-booking relationship with a day ahead.
Fighting our way through these unclaimed seats while avoiding experienced pickpockets was the only way out for those of us who did not have the Ghanaian 'whom you know privilege' that Taller gave. You may also utilize your macho power to muscle your way through to the survival seat, showing intricate gender dynamics concealed in our transportation industry.
It is clear that with our rising urban population, challenges of access, price, and limited transportation choices are driving our reliance on tro-tros, also known as minibuses. According to research from the Copenhagen Convention Center, 70% of Accra's urban population rides these aging minibuses in a daily dance of destinations.
Despite several attempts to introduce a modernized transportation system, such as the Bus Rapid Transit system, these efforts have clearly failed, with the USD 52 million Grant Urban Transport Project (UTP) of the World Bank and GEF Trust generating few results in 2007.
Our public transportation system's instability, on the other hand, has pushed many city people to drive their own private automobiles. Private vehicle ownership has expanded from 1.3 million to over 3.2 million in the previous decade alone, supporting the trend of mobility politics - where possession of the steering wheel of an automobile symbolizes social power, status, and opportunity in a typical African urban area.
Transportation as a way of transporting automobiles or of moving people?
On a global scale, Ghana may be regarded a low polluter of Greenhouse Gas emissions; nevertheless, it is frequently necessary to focus on individual industries. Obviously, the energy industry contributes significantly to our emissions. In 2016, it was responsible for 35.5% of total emissions (Nyansapo, 2022). When we look at the breakdown of these emissions, we can see that the transportation sector is a big contributor, accounting for 47.7% of all energy-related emissions.
Vehicles play a significant role in this category, producing about 7.2 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, or almost 17% of total emissions, according to the Basel Institute for Sustainable Energy during the just concluded Africa Climate Week. Meanwhile, Ghana's 2022 SDGs Budget and Expenditure Report shows a GHS4,823.35 million investment for transportation expansion in 2022.
In order to solve these challenges, we must abandon the sole recognized approach of road growth, as shown in the expansions taking place in the metropolitan districts of Amasaman, Spintex-Palace Mall region, and East Legon, all of which are typical of car-oriented cities.
True, expenditures in enhancing Accra's public transportation must be made; yet, accompanying concerns like as high traffic volumes need that we avoid maladaptive solutions that may accidentally push us toward ineffective outcomes.
Improving transportation access must imply shifting to sustainable modes of transportation and lowering transport-related Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions along the BRT corridor in Accra, addressing the common 2 hour peak-hour congestion to and from the Accra central business district, which affects work productivity and stress levels, accompanied by the long hours linked with noncommunicable diseases, ensuring our safety from pickpockets during after-work rush hours, and more.
Accepting changes in our modes of transportation - active, sharing, and electric - may improve the quality of our urban life and our environmental ecology.
How has Accra been a forerunner in urban culture and technical advancement?
Accra has established itself as a pioneer in cultural expression and technological growth throughout the years. Drivers in colonial Ghana seized the potential afforded by technical developments as early as the 1910s. They used imported motor transportation technology to accomplish a variety of municipal, social, and economic goals within the capital, demonstrating its adaptability to change.
In addition, the city developed itself as cosmopolitan, encouraging cultural contacts within the global urban scene. For more than two decades, Accra has earned a reputation as a highly sought-after student location. Almost every major American university, including elite universities such as Harvard, Michigan, Rutgers, and Colorado, has sent students to participate in various initiatives in Ghana during the last decade.
The University of California, with nine campuses, has been offering year-abroad programs in the nation since the early 1990s. While New York University has a vast property where students and teachers from its schools are frequently hosted.
Beyond Accra's wonderful welcome, it is a popular destination for varied travelers seeking to experience the spirit of Africa. The Chale Wote Street Art Festival, one of the most prominent and colorful arts and cultural festivals in West Africa, takes place in the city, making it a centre for modern cultural vitality.
Accra's bustling nightlife reflects the city's energy and blend of traditional and modern elements. Accra is still a popular destination for people who want to participate in the yearly December in Ghana trip. Consider the impact that centralizing Accra's urbanscape with bike infrastructure would have on experiences like December in Accra.
Transforming Accra into a bike-friendly city is about more than just infrastructure and transportation; it's about cultivating an inclusive culture via cities throughout the world while housing individuals from these various places. Accra's historical flexibility to technical developments demonstrates our capacity to completely embrace cycling. Our status as a cultural and artistic centre exemplifies our attraction as a site of social connection that cycling provides, ensuring that residents and visitors alike participate with the community in distinctive ways.
Negative connotations with cycling that must be dispelled:
Cycling is sometimes associated with several myths. People frequently dismiss cycling as a viable alternative, citing the fact that it can get wet when it rains. We may, however, construct bike bridges such as the Peace Bridge in Calgary, Canada. The 126-metre-long bridge has a helical steel frame, a glass ceiling, and lighting for night riding.
We can also supplement bike infrastructure with electric-powered trains that riders may utilize when the weather turns bad. S-trains serve an important role in promoting cycling as an efficient means of transportation throughout Europe. These suburban commuter trains are bike-friendly, with designated areas and amenities for cyclists to bring their bikes on board.
This connection enables commuters to effortlessly combine rail travel and cycling, making it easier to get to their destinations while it's raining.
Other cycling communities have secure and well-managed public or private Bike Lockers, Racks, and Shelters that act as bike sanctuary amenities. If the weather is bad, you may easily park and then call a ride-hailing service or take a traditional taxi or 'troski'.
What are the Benefits of Making the City Bicycle-Friendly?
According to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly's Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, the average yearly number of incidents in Accra is comparable to that other African cities (AMA 2019). However, the incidence of pedestrian accidents resulting in fatalities and injuries is substantially greater than in most other African cities, with some of the world's most deadly street accidents for pedestrians (AMA 2019).
As seen in the Dutch cycling cities of Utrecht and Copenhagen, expanding the city's transportation to include cycling can reduce the projected number of cars on the road for pedestrians. Since the growth of bike culture in the Netherlands, the number of road accidents has plummeted dramatically, and air pollution and estimated healthcare costs of $300 million annually have been saved over time.
Second, it is easier to administer than failed BRT systems such as Ayalolo. Building and operating a Bus Rapid Transit system, such as Ayalolo, necessitates significant financial expenditures in infrastructure, vehicles, and maintenance. Promoting bicycle infrastructure, such as bike lanes and bike-sharing programs, on the other hand, is frequently more cost-effective and may be built progressively.
The European cities of Copenhagen and Amsterdam are examples of dedicated bike lanes, bike-sharing programs, and bike-friendly infrastructure that have been adopted slowly and with fewer substantial adjustments than BRT systems, which need considerable redesign and heavy construction.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, oil prices have continued to rise. The battle drove oil prices to near 14-year highs, with Brent crude reaching more than US$130 per barrel, exposing Ghana's susceptibility to oil price shocks. Following a period of reduction, there has been another jump, owing to an increase in the international market price of gasoil by 3.33% and LPG by 2.95%, along with a 0.97% devaluation of the Ghana cedi against the US dollar on the foreign currency market.
In Ghana, fuel prices are a major driver of inflation. Indeed, the Ghana Statistical Services' January 2022 year-on-year inflation figures reveal that transportation (17.4%) is the largest inflation driver, followed by housing, power, and gas (28.7%). In the face of these unsustainable gasoline prices and their economic effects, cycling appears as a useful answer. It is cost-effective, with the added benefit of promoting healthy urban lives. Electrification of urban networks and mitigating measures such as active mobility will save us money and the environment.
Furthermore, bike infrastructure contributes to greener places in a variety of ways. If Accra invests in bicycle infrastructure, we will have the chance to redesign our city infrastructure to integrate green design features such as trees and parks that improve the urban environment. In cities throughout Latin America and Asia, for example, programs such as dedicated bike lanes and cycling corridors are commonly supplemented by landscaping, tree planting, and green buffers.
These green additions not only beautify the surroundings, but also provide valuable ecological services such as improved air quality, urban cooling, and stormwater management, resulting in welcoming and inclusive spaces that host a number of international visitors who flock to the city and encourage more people to cycle.
Finally, in our changing politics, the city's most significant resource is its people capital. Investing in clean mobility can create jobs in a variety of industries, including the manufacturing and assembly of electric vehicles and batteries, the installation and maintenance of charging infrastructure, the development of renewable energy sources for clean transportation, and the encouragement of entrepreneurship.
Wahu!, one of the city's start-ups, has deployed about 100 locally manufactured fleets of e-bikes and onboarded informal okada drivers as delivery riders, tackling informality in a $90 trillion global urban economy. Women Deliverers, a program run by the enterprise, trains female cyclists in Lomé.
In Accra, women's capacity to work and provide for their families is critical to their identity as contemporary and productive women. Cycling allows for shorter commutes, which increases gender parity and provides fiber and strength to our frail urban societies.
To summarize, we are rapidly transitioning from the fuel era—a period of over-consumptive modernity and technical development—to an era of sustainability, in which technology breakthrough supports both speed and shared progress for the present and future.
Cities are at the epicenters of this cultural shift; the greatest successful social, economic, and cultural conflicts, ranging from women's emancipation, voting rights, and absolute monarchy to climate justice, have all been created, waged, and won in cities, and Accra cannot afford to be a bystander.
A research on cycling in Ghana conducted by Alimo et al. 2022 revealed that many road users are interested in future bike-sharing programs. Many city people wish to ride to work, school, and other places. This, however, is contingent on adequate bike infrastructure and regulatory changes that treat cyclists as equals.
The findings highlight the importance of a National Cycling Policy Framework to accompany the National Electric Vehicle Policy, which is presently being developed.
We must also establish a solid institutional foundation for coordinated planning and regulation. The World Bank study Cities on the Move (2002) highlighted institutional inadequacies as the root cause of many reported failures in developing-country urban transportation.
While the Accra Climate Action Plan is a blueprint for an inclusive city, we must widen our vision to include active transportation demands of travelers rather than just automobiles.
In our cities, cycling is the equity angle. In truth, cycling-friendly urban environments in successful cities have been mostly driven by citizens. When it comes to transportation, improved air quality, and health outcomes, it is us residents who have an intimate understanding of our requirements and preferences.
We understand the local geography, traffic patterns, and where cycling infrastructure is most required, and it is now time to establish a strong advocacy network capable of influencing governmental choices and raising awareness about the numerous benefits of cycling.
Taking all of this into account, meaningful change is only feasible when governance, finance, and technology levers are combined. A collaboration is what holds these levers together. What Impact Hub is attempting to exemplify with the Net Zero Accra platform is facilitating partnerships and collaboration with actors shaping the mobility ecosystem in the City, such as automakers, indigenous start-ups, corporations, and non-governmental organizations, but we also require greater multilateral partnerships that place finance at the center to assist governments in leapfrogging.
Even as we do so, we must keep in mind that, while urban Accra provides a significant portion of national finance, it is typically not localized and managed by local government enough; we must decentralise finance in order to completely establish Accra as Africa's cycling capital.
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