The Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, will officially launch the ‘Tap & Go Transport Initiative’ on Monday, February 19, 2024.
The initiative aims to formalize and harmonize the informal transport sector through the implementation of proven and well-structured technology solutions.
The app was piloted by the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) in December last year. It was piloted in parts of Accra including Airport, East Legon, University of Ghana, Circle/Kaneshie, and Dansoman.
The Tap n’ Go app has features including ‘private dropping’ (private cars operating as taxis), and ‘metered service’ (where a passenger instantly stops a taxi in the middle of the road and a meter is turned on to determine the charge), in addition to the usual online service app.
There are two Tap n’ Go applications: Tap n’ Go app for users and Tap n’ Go Driver for interested taxi drivers. Both apps are available on the Google Play Store and the Apple Store.
Interested taxi drivers can register for the service using their Ghana Cards.
In many ways, the new initiative could be seen as the local government effectively competing with ride-hailing services as they launch their own ride-hailing platform.
But the question remains whether the government can scale this up and get buy-in from local taxis and trotro operators who are reluctant to use technology for their day-to-day operations.
There are several questions to be answered about the service including how much drivers using the service will make. Will the government take a percentage of their wages? Or is there a zero percent commission?
Also, how does the metering work for taxis? Who maintains it?
We’ll see how this plays out in the long term.
