Choice of public transport to work and drivers agitation for increase in transport fares in some selected towns in the Central Region

Abstract

Traffic congestion has gained the attention of researchers and policy makers due to how common it has become in the cities of Ghana. This study sought to empirically investigate the factors that influence the choice of public transport to work and drivers‘ agitation for increase in transport fares in the Central Region of Ghana. The study employed quantitative research approach with structured questionnaire as the main instrument for data collection. With respect to choice of public transport to work, a sample of 210 household heads were selected from Kasoa using multi-stage sampling technique. On drivers‘ agitation for increase in transport fares, simple random sampling technique was used to select 200 drivers from Kasoa, Swedru and Mankessim. A double-hurdle model was used to analyse the factors that influence choice of public transport to work as well as households‘ expenditure on public transport. Probit regression model was used to examine factors that influence drivers‘ decision to agitate for increase in transport fares. The results revealed that the level of income, reliability, convenience and safety of public transport are the factors determining participation in public transport to work while gender, household size, employment type and affordability of public transport influence households‘ expenditure decisions on public transport. In addition, results of the study showed that cost of fuel, cost of spare parts and nature of road are the factors that influence drivers‘ decision to agitate for increase in transport fares. The study recommends that, public transport should be made safe, reliable and convenient to enhance choice of public transport to work and this will help reduce traffic congestion during peak hours. Also, though the introduction of import tax waiver on spare parts will help reduce cost of spare parts, steps need to be taken to rehabilitate and maintain roads and reduce prices of fuel, in order to minimise drivers‘ decision to agitate for an increase in transport fares thereby making public transport more affordable for households.