Transportation is one of the basic things we cannot do without in our daily lives. We always find ourselves moving from one place to another, and there are several ways we can achieve this, depending on the distance.
If I am traveling from one country to another, then the most common and safest means of travel will definitely be by aircraft, unless I am traveling via a water body. On the other hand, to travel within my city, it will not make sense to use an aircraft (based on where I am currently living).
Here in Ghana, the most common means of intra-country transport is public transport. Even though there are ride-hailing services, due to economic constraints, people patronize public transport over ride-hailing services. I only use these services when I need to get somewhere urgently.
As someone who has lived in both the southern and northern parts of Ghana, I have realized that there are vastly different means of transportation in both parts of the country.
I was born and raised in northern Ghana before I moved to the southern part. Throughout my life in northern Ghana, I rarely saw people patronizing these online taxi services like Uber, Bolt, and the rest for intra-city commuting. This is because the use of motorbikes is common there, and almost every household has at least one motorbike. People who do not use motorbikes or private cars mostly commute via tricycles.
Tricycles are the most common means of transportation for people in the northern part of Ghana, and they are locally referred to as Candoo or Yellow Yellow. They are very convenient and cheap due to their smaller size and low fuel consumption. This public transport service actually helped me a lot during my internship days. Whenever I was going to work, I only needed to walk a short distance of less than a kilometer to the roadside, and I did not have to wait long to get one as they are all over the streets in my city.
Have you ever used a tricycle as a means of transport? I would like to know what you think about them. But for me, I actually enjoyed their services. The only problem I find with them is the fact that you don't need a license to operate a tricycle here. Also, due to the nature of tricycles, they don't operate over longer distances, so people prefer to use buses and minibuses if they want to travel from one city to another.
Tricycle src
When I moved to the capital city, I started experiencing a totally different form of transportation. Just like it is rare to see an online taxi service in the northern part of the country, you hardly see a tricycle in Accra, and even those available are mainly used for a different purpose.
As I mentioned earlier, the most common means of transport are through commercial motorbike circles, taxis, and then minibuses. The minibuses are commonly referred to as TroTro here in Ghana and are the most patronized form of transportation due to their cheap prices. One thing I don't like about TroTro is that they lack convenience, and if you need convenience and quick transportation, then a ride-hailing service like Uber should be your best option.
Moreover, since TroTros carry a large number of passengers, it is very common to experience people quarreling about unnecessary stuff on our public transport. I always try to mind my own business in order not to have issues with fellow passengers or driver's mates.
Mini-bus
Just as I stated at the beginning of this post, commuting is a basic necessity because it is one of the things we cannot do without. Just as I take good care of what I eat and other basic necessities, I am equally mindful of how I commute from one place to another. It is an underrated blessing to get out of your home and come back home healthy, especially considering the rate of careless riding and driving in our various cities.
This is my entry to Weekly Engagement-WK 51 in Hive Ghana Community.
The photos in this post were taken with my phone.