GPRTU launches vehicle towing, electronic ticketing systems

The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has launched a new digital vehicle towing policy and an electronic ticketing platform to improve the road transport system.

The vehicle towing policy, a collaboration between the union and the Road Safety Management Services Limited (RSMSL), a private entity, is meant to ensure that breakdown vehicles are promptly removed from the roads.

The policy, which takes off from October this year, provides an avenue for vehicle owners under the union to mandatorily subscribe to the RSMSL mobile application and pay annual fees ranging from GH¢50 to GH¢500 depending on their vehicle type.

On the other hand, the electronic ticketing system, also called passenger manifest, allows for the personal data of prospective passengers to be taken prior to departure from transport terminals.

The passenger manifest initiative also makes it possible for passengers to buy tickets online.

The Head of Public Investment Unit of the Ministry of Transport, Daniel Essel, launched the two projects in Accra yesterday.

GPRTU digitisation

The General Secretary of the GPRTU, Godfred Abulbire, explained that going digital was part of a concerted effort to improve service delivery and sanitise the road ecosystem.

He explained that with the towing system, all vehicle owners who belonged to the GPRTU were obliged to subscribe to the relevant mobile application to effectively track and cart breakdown vehicles from the road.

Additionally, he said, the vehicle towing application had incorporated a reporting system that enabled passengers and members of the public to call RSMSL to report incidence of breakdown vehicles for prompt action.

Passenger manifest

Mr Abulbire said the passenger manifest initiative had been piloted in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Upper East regions, and would now be rolled out across the country.