The Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE), managers of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) known as Aayalolo will resume operations today, Monday, June 10, 2019.
The company has said it “will be running on a limited morning and evening peak service from Amasaman to Tudu, Ofankor to Tudu, Pokuase to Tudu and Achimota to Tudu.”
In October 2018, operations of the Aayalolo bus service came to a halt because of financial challenges and what managers then referred to as technical hitches.
After six months, there was a partial resumption of operations to Kasoa; a deviation from the Achimota to Tudu stretch, where a kilometre of that stretch was designated for their services.
At a point in 2018, over 150 Aayalolo buses had been grounded at the Achimota Bus Terminal in Accra, while another 60 deployed to Kumasi for use were yet to start operations.
GAPTE reportedly applied for a bailout from the government to help it pay for the cost of fuel, salaries and other operational costs, but the Ministry of Transport turned down the request.
Patronage of the buses was quite high when the service began in 2016, but it started dwindling six months afterwards from the expected 12,000 passengers per day to 9,000.
Patronage on a daily basis ranged between 9,000 and 10,000 on the Amasaman-Ofankor-Achimota-Accra Central Business District (CBD) corridor.
Aside the low patronage, drivers of the Aayololo buses have embarked on a series of strikes over unpaid salaries.
source: citinewsroom.com