Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that commercial taxi drivers in the Greater Accra Region will soon be connected to a digital system, similar to the electronic platforms used by Uber and Bolt, allowing the public to access their services from any location in the region.
“I sat down with my team and said, 'OK, how do we help our taxi drivers compete with the Uber drivers so that they can also be like Uber?'" he said at a conference at the Church of Pentecost Ghana, on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.
"So, we set the team to work, and, so, the task was to digitise the operations of our regular taxis, just as you have with Uber," he noted.
“I’m happy to say that the work has now been completed," Dr Bawumia announced, adding: "And, in the next couple of months, we will be able to place our taxis, at least, in Greater Accra, to start with, all on an Uber-like platform."
"And you’ll be able to call them just like you call Ubers to your homes and all of that," he added.
Also, Dr Bawumia said processes were underway to digitalise both the public and private transport.
“There’s more actually coming," he hinted, explaining: "We are attacking everybody - trotros will come later on, VIP buses, Aayalolo, Metro Mass. The whole public sector is going to go on and private sector transport is going to go on what we call a tap-and-go system."
“When you go to England, they have the Oyster card that you travel with. Ghana is also going to have an Oyster card before the end of this year," Dr Bawumia said.