Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said that the introduction of Tap ‘n’ Go transport system is going to help eradicate corruption and revenue leakage at the various intracity and intercity transport companies.
He was speaking at the formal launch of the Tap ‘n’ Go transport system, which allows users of public transport to load funds onto their unique Tap ‘n’ Go cards or accounts and use that for payment of fares by swiping them on handheld POS devices held by bus conductors.
The Vice President noted that Tap ‘n’ Go, a collaborative effort between government and private investors, was rolled out on pilot basis a while back, and has already resulted in some significant revenue surge at Metro Mass Transit for instance.
“It is important to note that, before the Tap ‘n’ Go system was implemented by Metro Mass Transit, the audit report showed that the company was losing 50 per cent of its revenue annually, but since it was implemented by the company, that leakage has been plucked and the revenue that it is making from 200 buses is more than when it was operating 500 buses,” he said.
He added that, unlike previously, now the revenues generated from Tap ‘n’ Go goes directed to the bank account of the Metro Mass Transit and that has helped the company to even hire more workers, unlike previously when workers were sacked due to low revenues.
According to him, the effectiveness of the Tap ‘n’ Go system lies in the fact that it simplifies the fare payment process and also eliminates cash payments, which in turn makes it difficult for anyone to divert funds.
Dr. Bawumia said the initiative will serve as an inclusive platform for all public transport in Ghana and revolutionized stakeholder experience by helping curb some age old problems such mistrust between driver and mate or and between car owners and drivers.
The Tap ‘n’ Go system also modernizes the reservation of seats on public transport while streamlining collection.
In 2016, the previous government introduce a closed-loop Tap ‘n’ Go system on only one state-owned bus – Ayalolo. But this new one is designed to be scaled across all public transport systems.
Dr. Bawumia said steps are underway to expand its use to other forms of public transport, including commercial buses known as trotros, which in his view, will particularly reduce mistrust between drivers and mates, and between car owners and drivers.
“With the Tap ‘n’ Go system, the problem of vehicle owners worrying about the accurate daily sales and whereabouts of their cars at any given time will be a thing of the past. The problem with the diversion of funds within state-owned intercity and intracity buses will also be a thing of the past, as it will help check corruption by promoting transparency,” he stated.
Dr. Bawumia said there are plans to purchase 100 new buses for Metro Mass Transit to help in the e-transport system and cameras will be fixed on every bus in order to know the exact number of people on each bus per every trip.
That will be an additional measure to prevent revenue leakage, particularly when some passengers drop off mid-way and new passengers get on board.