FROM TRO-TROS TO PRAGYAS:
THE EVOLVING STORY OF ACCRA’S PUBLIC TRANSIT
THE EVOLVING STORY OF ACCRA’S PUBLIC TRANSIT
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS INTERVIEWED:
ANGELA TEYVI has worked extensively as a geospatial transport specialist, with a focus on public transportation data and open-source mapping in Ghana. Member of Ghana Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project (GUMAP).
ANGELA TEYVI has worked extensively as a geospatial transport specialist, with a focus on public transportation data and open-source mapping in Ghana. Member of Ghana Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project (GUMAP).
In Accra, Ghana’s fast-growing coastal capital, the streets bustle with a choreography all their own. Minibuses called tro-tros zigzag between traffic lights and informal stops. Motorcycle taxis, or okadas, whip through gridlocked intersections. Three-wheeled pragyas, often overloaded, bounce along uneven roads, venturing into neighborhoods that Google Maps won’t show you. This is Accra’s informal transit system: vast, dynamic, and until recently, mostly invisible in official records.
In Ghana, the tro-tro—often a converted 14–seater van used to shuttle commuters across short and long distances––is one of the most ubiquitous forms of public transport. The name comes from the Ga language, where tro refers to “three pence,” the standard fare for a ride during Ghana’s colonial era. Today, the system is as active and decentralized as ever, anchored by major hubs along Ring Road Central. The city’s largest tro-tro terminal, Circle Accra station, operates from dawn until well into the night.
Between 2020 and 2022, a group of researchers led by Angela Teyvi, a Ghanaian geospatial transport specialist, software developer, and open-data advocate, undertook an ambitious effort to map this network from the ground up. Through the Ghana Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project (GUMAP), the team developed one of the most comprehensive open-source data efforts on informal transit in West Africa.
BRINGING THE UNMAPPED TO LIGHT
Accra’s informal public transport system is the beating heart of mobility for more than 70% of the city’s daily commuters: it serves hundreds of thousands––if not millions––of people each day. On any given weekday, tro-tros alone account for an estimated 3.5 million passenger trips across the Greater Accra region. Fares typically range from GHS 3 to GHS 10 (about $0.25 to $0.85 USD), making it by far the most affordable and accessible way to get around for working-class Ghanaians.
Funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented by Ghana’s Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, GUMAP aimed to strengthen urban mobility planning. As a foundation for this planning, the project’s mapping component uncovered and made visible the ways in which people actually move through the city.
The job of mapping Accra fell to Angela and a team of more than 20 field researchers, who walked, rode, and tracked the routes. They captured GPS traces, counted passengers, noted schedules, and validated stop locations, often under difficult conditions. “Sometimes the GPS would stop working and the person wouldn’t even know,” Angela explains. “Even on a good day, if we got 80% accurate data that was considered a win.”
The goal wasn’t just to trace paths on a map. It was to reveal the full anatomy of an informal system that functions precisely because it responds to people—not plans. “The government builds stations, but those die off when no one uses them,” Angela says. “We found that stations only survive when there’s something happening around them, like a market. Economic activity is what sustains them.”
For Angela, the importance of informal transit goes far beyond mobility. Transit is the engine of the city’s daily life. “Public transport is the backbone of the city,” she maintains. That truth became unmistakably clear during a transport operator strike that brought Accra to a standstill, stranding thousands and disrupting economic activity across the capital. Without it, people can’t get to work, markets stall, and the city slows to a crawl. Angela acknowledges the tension between the need for government oversight and the natural efficiency of the current system. “It’s a beautiful chaos,” she says. “Certain things don’t work, but they work.”
In her view, preserving that balance is key to building a system that works for everyone.
In Ghana, the tro-tro—often a converted 14–seater van used to shuttle commuters across short and long distances––is one of the most ubiquitous forms of public transport. The name comes from the Ga language, where tro refers to “three pence,” the standard fare for a ride during Ghana’s colonial era. Today, the system is as active and decentralized as ever, anchored by major hubs along Ring Road Central. The city’s largest tro-tro terminal, Circle Accra station, operates from dawn until well into the night.
Between 2020 and 2022, a group of researchers led by Angela Teyvi, a Ghanaian geospatial transport specialist, software developer, and open-data advocate, undertook an ambitious effort to map this network from the ground up. Through the Ghana Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project (GUMAP), the team developed one of the most comprehensive open-source data efforts on informal transit in West Africa.
BRINGING THE UNMAPPED TO LIGHT
Accra’s informal public transport system is the beating heart of mobility for more than 70% of the city’s daily commuters: it serves hundreds of thousands––if not millions––of people each day. On any given weekday, tro-tros alone account for an estimated 3.5 million passenger trips across the Greater Accra region. Fares typically range from GHS 3 to GHS 10 (about $0.25 to $0.85 USD), making it by far the most affordable and accessible way to get around for working-class Ghanaians.
Funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented by Ghana’s Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, GUMAP aimed to strengthen urban mobility planning. As a foundation for this planning, the project’s mapping component uncovered and made visible the ways in which people actually move through the city.
The job of mapping Accra fell to Angela and a team of more than 20 field researchers, who walked, rode, and tracked the routes. They captured GPS traces, counted passengers, noted schedules, and validated stop locations, often under difficult conditions. “Sometimes the GPS would stop working and the person wouldn’t even know,” Angela explains. “Even on a good day, if we got 80% accurate data that was considered a win.”
The goal wasn’t just to trace paths on a map. It was to reveal the full anatomy of an informal system that functions precisely because it responds to people—not plans. “The government builds stations, but those die off when no one uses them,” Angela says. “We found that stations only survive when there’s something happening around them, like a market. Economic activity is what sustains them.”
For Angela, the importance of informal transit goes far beyond mobility. Transit is the engine of the city’s daily life. “Public transport is the backbone of the city,” she maintains. That truth became unmistakably clear during a transport operator strike that brought Accra to a standstill, stranding thousands and disrupting economic activity across the capital. Without it, people can’t get to work, markets stall, and the city slows to a crawl. Angela acknowledges the tension between the need for government oversight and the natural efficiency of the current system. “It’s a beautiful chaos,” she says. “Certain things don’t work, but they work.”
In her view, preserving that balance is key to building a system that works for everyone.
DATA FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE
The GUMAP team didn’t start from scratch. Their work built on the Accra Mobility Project, an open-data initiative launched in 2017 to map the city’s bus and minibus routes. That effort also supported planning for Aayalolo, a formal bus system introduced to by the government to modernize transit.
However, the Aayalolo system collapsed in 2018 due to low ridership, as most passengers continued to rely on the more flexible and widely used informal system. There have been recent attempts to bring the Aayalolo system back. In the meantime, the project’s data provided Angela and her team with a leg up of their research.
“If they had stored the data on a PC in some government office, we wouldn’t have been able to access it,” Angela says. “But because it was open-source, we could build on it. That’s why I always say: the data is for the people and by the people.”
The team’s work unearthed unexpected insights. For instance, along some routes, drivers required full occupancy before getting under way—especially at stations that charged tolls. Along other routes, the driver could be more flexible, picking up passengers as they went.
During the data validation phase, the GUMAP team uncovered patterns that highlight how informal transit has adapted to Accra’s rapid growth. While complete route changes are rare, route extensions have become frequent, reflecting the city’s outward expansion. In some areas they even identified “ghost routes”––lines that municipal departments believed still ran but that had actually faded out on the ground. Such flexibility and responsiveness are the hallmarks of informal transit, making it both resilient and deeply attuned to local dynamics.
“When we presented our findings to the Department of Transport, they were surprised,” remembers Angela. “They had information from their own jurisdictions, but not a city-wide picture. We showed them something new.”
The GUMAP team didn’t start from scratch. Their work built on the Accra Mobility Project, an open-data initiative launched in 2017 to map the city’s bus and minibus routes. That effort also supported planning for Aayalolo, a formal bus system introduced to by the government to modernize transit.
However, the Aayalolo system collapsed in 2018 due to low ridership, as most passengers continued to rely on the more flexible and widely used informal system. There have been recent attempts to bring the Aayalolo system back. In the meantime, the project’s data provided Angela and her team with a leg up of their research.
“If they had stored the data on a PC in some government office, we wouldn’t have been able to access it,” Angela says. “But because it was open-source, we could build on it. That’s why I always say: the data is for the people and by the people.”
The team’s work unearthed unexpected insights. For instance, along some routes, drivers required full occupancy before getting under way—especially at stations that charged tolls. Along other routes, the driver could be more flexible, picking up passengers as they went.
During the data validation phase, the GUMAP team uncovered patterns that highlight how informal transit has adapted to Accra’s rapid growth. While complete route changes are rare, route extensions have become frequent, reflecting the city’s outward expansion. In some areas they even identified “ghost routes”––lines that municipal departments believed still ran but that had actually faded out on the ground. Such flexibility and responsiveness are the hallmarks of informal transit, making it both resilient and deeply attuned to local dynamics.
“When we presented our findings to the Department of Transport, they were surprised,” remembers Angela. “They had information from their own jurisdictions, but not a city-wide picture. We showed them something new.”
A SYSTEM WITH SOUL
Beyond the numbers, Angela found a system filled with culture and character. Whereas in Nairobi, Kenya, matatus feel like nightclubs on wheels, with neon lights flashing and music blasting, in Accra, tro-tros present a totally different vibe. Angela explains that they’re covered in handwritten slogans: “Some quote scripture, others complain about politics or relationships…. There are typos but nobody cares,” she laughs, “That’s our voice on the road.” In Accra, transit is more than a way to get around—it’s a cultural mirror, an economic engine, and an essential public good.
LAYER INNOVATION
With upgraded planning frameworks, smarter tools, and even private electric buses, Accra is slowly moving toward more formalized systems. But the idea is to do so without losing the agility and humanity of the informal network. The way forward, Angela believes, is to layer innovation onto lived reality, rather than replace the amazing creativity of the informational systems.
Her advice to others?
“Start with what exists. Work with local governments. Partner with communities. And learn how to build technology from the ground up.” She points to Trufi, a nonprofit advancing open transit data worldwide, as a model for the kind of ecosystem this work needs.
Beyond the numbers, Angela found a system filled with culture and character. Whereas in Nairobi, Kenya, matatus feel like nightclubs on wheels, with neon lights flashing and music blasting, in Accra, tro-tros present a totally different vibe. Angela explains that they’re covered in handwritten slogans: “Some quote scripture, others complain about politics or relationships…. There are typos but nobody cares,” she laughs, “That’s our voice on the road.” In Accra, transit is more than a way to get around—it’s a cultural mirror, an economic engine, and an essential public good.
LAYER INNOVATION
With upgraded planning frameworks, smarter tools, and even private electric buses, Accra is slowly moving toward more formalized systems. But the idea is to do so without losing the agility and humanity of the informal network. The way forward, Angela believes, is to layer innovation onto lived reality, rather than replace the amazing creativity of the informational systems.
Her advice to others?
“Start with what exists. Work with local governments. Partner with communities. And learn how to build technology from the ground up.” She points to Trufi, a nonprofit advancing open transit data worldwide, as a model for the kind of ecosystem this work needs.