The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) is building a database to help regulate commercial transport operations in the city’s Central Business District.

The transport reorganization by the Urban Transport Department involves all stakeholders in the transport sector to ensure successful implementation.

This comes as on-street terminals, tricycle operators, cargo and other commercial transport operators repeatedly flout regulations by the KMA.

Head of the Urban Transport Department, Randy Wilson, says an enforcement team cannot be assigned to the streets to ensure drivers’ compliance to road regulations.

He was speaking to David Akuetteh on Luv In the Morning.

“We have in our by-laws that cargo vehicles are supposed to stop offloading from 9.00 am till 6.00pm. But the large cargo vehicles, you will see them offloading right during the day. We have made efforts with enforcement activities but it subsides after some time. When you stop enforcing, they start coming back,” he noted.

Randy alludes the vehicular congestion in the Central Business District is artificial, hence the restriction of commercial tricycle operations within the radius of Kumasi.

There are fears these tricycle operators will overpopulate the CBD in about five years.

“Gradually, their prominence within the CBD is becoming high. If you pass by the Kumasi Zoo area and the Kejetia Market, congestion around these areas is artificial. How many vehicles do we have in the system? But you will see that somebody’s movement or stopping and turning here and there is creating congestion in town,” he explained.

The Urban Transport Department says the reorganization plan is already being implemented for some taxis, trotro [commercial buses] and cargo vehicles.

All commercial transport shall be embossed with stickers and assigned to terminals to be operational in the CBD.

A total of five thousand vehicles were enrolled on the previous database which is still operational.

“Within the next 3 months, we are hoping that we will get every commercial vehicle that belongs to a union and belongs to a station, to be properly identified. The stickers we are rolling out include the destinations the vehicle is supposed to operate,” said Randy.

After the database rollout, all commercial transport operators will be directed to operate within their respective destinations.

“The transport operators take advantage of passengers during rush hour.  You will see a vehicle loading from Adum to Kotei. They pick you and drop you off at a short distance, they load again and repeat the same process till you get to your destination. This triples the normal transport fare a passenger is supposed to pay,” he lamented.