Open Access

Edmund Teko, Oliver Lah

• Growing motorization and vehicle ownership contributes to traffic congestion in cities around the world, especially in developing countries. This phenomenon is necessitating the need for innovative transportation solutions particularly in urban areas. One of such innovations is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system which has gained popularity over the years notably in Latin America, Asia and gradually in Africa. Whilst some city authorities have been successful in its implementation, others have failed due to financial, political, regulatory and institutional challenges, the latter being the less discussed in literature. In this paper, we studied the implementation of a BRT project in Accra which started in 2008 with system deployment expectedGrowing motorization and vehicle ownership contributes to traffic congestion in cities around the world, especially in developing countries. This phenomenon is necessitating the need for innovative transportation solutions particularly in urban areas. One of such innovations is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system which has gained popularity over the years notably in Latin America, Asia and gradually in Africa. Whilst some city authorities have been successful in its implementation, others have failed due to financial, political, regulatory and institutional challenges, the latter being the less discussed in literature. In this paper, we studied the implementation of a BRT project in Accra which started in 2008 with system deployment expected by 2012. Almost a decade after the start of the project, the BRT system could not be realized as planned; but was launched in 2016 as a Quality Bus Service (QBS) without dedicated bus lanes. We sought to explain the institutional factors which affected the implementation of the project with theoretical support of the institutional thickness concept. Findings on implementation state were compared between the original period of implementation (2008-2012) and the pilot phase (the period after 2012 until the QBS was launched in 2016), making a link to changes in institutional thickness over the two periods. The study revealed that the institutional thickness during the original phase of the project was relatively lower than in the pilot phase proving that the improved institutional thickness over time accounted for some gains made in the pilot phase.…