Urban Infrastructure and Transit-Oriented Development in Accra, Ghana

Given the multiple challenges of poor and inequitable accessibility, and near absence of formal public transport services in Ghana, transit-oriented development (TOD) has been proposed as a development strategy for cities to improve accessibility, promote compact development and reduce sprawl and cities’ ecological footprints, promote public transport, and make cities more efficient and competitive. This scoping study of TOD in Ghana, using Accra as a case study provides a direct discourse of the specifics of urban transportation in the city, its current challenges, planned and implemented TOD strategy and lessons learnt. While TOD’s application has been limited, the few planned and implemented in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) such as the bus rapid transit (BRT) system, have failed due to recurring traffic congestion; passengers’ inadequate comfort and personal security; resistance from existing public transport operators; lack of legal status for a BRT system and limited publicity. We recommend that TOD interventions must consider the appropriate contextual and cultural realities (including gendered realities) of GAMA, the interest and role of private sector (both formal and informal) and maintaining a careful balance to ensure that lower-income communities and the greater public benefit from the resultant economic and social gains over time.