The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia Monday launched a ‘Tap & Go’ system and ticketing solution for the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMT) to improve operational efficiency and ease of accessing public transport services.
The app was designed by a young talented Ghanaian IT Solution developer, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and the Office of the Vice President.
The ‘Tap & Go’ system seeks to build a single system for the entire transport eco-system for the inter and intra-city bus services, the commercial transport (Trotro), the loading taxi services, and the taxi-hailing (uber-like) services for commuting passengers in Ghana.
The new system is completely different from the Closed Loop System designed for the Aayalolo buses some time ago, but an advanced one with so many enhanced features.
It is expected to plug revenue leakages, improve transparency and accountability in revenue generation within public transport operations and curb corruption.
There would be fixed security cameras on the buses to monitor the time and speed of drivers, check onboard passengers, and respond swiftly to any emergencies.
Dr Bawumia speaking at the event, said the initiative was a major milestone in promoting a cashless society and digitally empowering the public transport system to deliver quality services.
According to him, ‘’As an all-inclusive app, the expansive Tap n’ Go platform, is designed to provide services in intra and inter-city bus services, trotro, parcel delivery and tracking, loading taxi service, trains, and the call on-demand uber-like service’’.
He explained that ‘’Like all our digital initiatives, Tap n’ Go, seeks to improve efficiency in the public transport sector, by addressing age-old challenges in the public transport service, such as delays at stations, inability to identify passengers in case of accidents, corruption with drivers under-declaring their earnings, inability to effectively monitor vehicle activities and financial performance of vehicles, lack of access to credit due to inability of banks to verify the revenue performance of vehicles, difficulty in getting the exact amounts to pay transport fares, receiving fake currencies, different fares for the same journey, the difficulty of getting change for passengers and robbery against cars and passengers, due to cash being carried around’’.
He further noted that in the past, Metro Mass Transit Limited was losing 50% of its revenue annually but with the implementation of Tap n’ Go, the leakages have been plugged and today, Metro Mass is getting more revenue from 200 buses than it did from 500 buses according to the CEO.
He added that the Tap n’ Go is completely different from the contactless closed-loop payment card that was designed solely for Ayalolo with limited features. Tap n’ Go is a common platform built by young talented Ghanaians and covers the entire transport sector (public and private].
Dr Bawumia announced that the government would secure 100 electric buses for the MMT this year, to boost its operations.
Kwaku Ofori Asiama, the Minister of Transport, on his part, said the initiative was a game-changer in the public transport sector, which would ensure affordable and reliable access to public transport services by the commuting public.
The Kaneshie terminal of Metro Mass Transit Ltd was the first to introduce it and by 31st May, this year all the 25 branches of the company would be networked to the Tap& Go System to optimize operations.
The public can download and install the Tap&Go application on AppStore or playStore. They can also access it by using the USSD by dialing *713*091#.
-BY Daniel Bampoe