The Metro Mass Transit Limited is a public transportation company in Ghana. The company was set up to provide reliable and affordable means of transport for commuters within villages, towns, and cities as well as provide intercity movement.
Early Days
Public bus companies have operated in Ghana since the Omnibus Service Authority (OSA) started its operations in 1927. The OSA contributed a lot to the Ghanaian society in terms of public transport. However, OSA's assets were divested in 1995.
Conception
Metro Mass Transit (MMT) arose from an idea from President John Kufuor who spoke of the need of introducing a mass transit bus system in the cities of Ghana at his inauguration speech on 7 January 2001. President Kufuor directed the re-introduction of public mass transport in the metropolitan and municipal areas to ensure the safe, affordable, efficient and reliable transport of commuters. Since then, the government has been actively promoting public mass transportation.
The managing director (MD) of Metro Mass Transit is alleged to have been caught in a secret audio recording, where he tried to bribe or pay off the whistle blower on how he the MD has sold vehicles that could be repaired as spoiled vehicles.[2]
Operational Areas
Since the introduction of the Metro Mass Transit, the following areas have benefited from the service:[3]
Metro Mass acquired 275 Marcopolo Viale BRT in 2016
MMT at the moment[when?] has a fleet of buses made up of Yaxing, DAF, NeoplanVDL, VDL Jonckheere, VDL Dutch, and Iveco buses. It is expected that the size of the fleet will reach 1,000 by the end of the year 2008.
The Fiat-Iveco buses were donated by the Italian Government and helped a great deal during the pilot phase. These buses have played their part and are being phased out.
The Yaxing buses were manufactured in China and supported by the Ghana Government. On 13 April 2006, MMT received 150 Yaxing buses from the Ministry of Roads and Transport (MRT) to augment the MMT fleet. This brought the total number of Yaxing buses received to 400 and the total operational MMT fleet to over 600. As of early 2016 all Yaxing buses have been scrapped and are no longer in service.
All DAF & VDL buses have been financed through an ORET Grant agreement between the Dutch Government and Ghana. Thirty-five percent of the value is a gift of the Dutch Government whilst 65% has been provided as a loan. All DAF Neoplaan & VDL Neoplan buses are manufactured at the Neoplan factory in Kumasi.
Passengers Carried
MMT carried almost 40 million passengers nationwide from January to October 2007 over 12,000,000 kilometres (7,500,000 mi). MMT buses have carried 36,456,300 passengers nationwide and have given 3,724,644 school children free ride.
Operational Issues
A pilot Bus Rapid Transit project in Accra, connecting Adenta with the Central Business District and the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, carrying over 20,000 passengers a day commenced in September 2005. The buses operate every 15 minutes and tickets are sold in advance.
Mission & Vision
Mission
The mission of MMT is to provide an efficient urban mass transport system in Ghana through the use of buses.
Vision
To build a dominant, reliable, efficient, safe and affordable yet an economically sustainable mass transit public bus company in Ghana. MMT also aims to introduce the Bus Rapid Transit System into Ghana.[4]
Job Creations
MMT has grown to be one of the major employers in Ghana. MMT's current[when?] staff strength of around 2,474 is expected to exceed 3000 by the end of 2008 with the arrival of about 258 buses. Janitorial services, security, bus washing and cleaning are outsourced to third parties providing employment for additional 500 persons. On account of the construction of the buses in Kumasi, several indirect jobs have been created in the manufacturing sector. In general productivity of the workforce in Ghana would increase, since MMT can offer fast and reliable transport from home to the workplace. Moreover, the operations of MMT would empower the Ghanaian community by making job, shop, school and healthcare better accessible.[5]
Awards
In the year 2013, MMT won the International Transport Awards.[6] It also won the overall award in the National Road Safety awards scheme in October 2013 in the Eastern Region of Ghana.[7][8]
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