Private car owners charge fares to supplement fuel cost

IF you are a regular beneficiary of the benevolence of private car owners who offer to pick up people by the roadside going their way, you might just want to brace yourself up to start paying for the ride --- the era of the free ride is over.

Why? In a bid to make extra money to endure the recent hike in fuel prices, private car owners, especially those who drive long distances to and from work, are now rubbing shoulders with commercial drivers on the road for passengers, to supplement their fuel cost.

The sight of many private car owners beckoning passengers, especially after work, at the various bus stops, which has become loading points for most commercial drivers in the city, is now a normal one.

Prince lives in Tema but drives to work in Accra each day. As part of a strategy to mitigate the impact of the rising fuel cost, he makes a stop at the bus stop in front of the Accra Shopping Mall to pick passengers.

Each evening, he makes GHc20 extra from his passengers, and this he uses to supplement his fuel cost for the week.

He explained that previously a GHc250 worth of fuel was enough to last him the whole week, as he had a policy of only driving to the office and doing all other rounds in Accra on public transport, but all that has changed with the new hikes in fuel prices.

“Just this morning, I bought GHc50, but look at where the gauge is,” he said, pointing to the fuel gauge, which was almost pointing to empty.

But for his children, who he has to drop off at school each morning, Prince said he would have driven to work only on Saturdays, when there is less traffic in town.

Another person who drives from Shai to work in Accra says he is sometimes forced to park his car at the Tema end of the Motorway and join public transport to work.

On days when getting a public transport to Accra from the Tema Roundabout becomes difficult, he picks passengers going to the Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout and then continues to work.

After work, he makes a stop at the bus stop in front of the Accra Mall and picks passengers to Tema Roundabout, and from there picks others going his way.

Picking the typical Ghanaian in a private car and charging a fare does not come easy for these drivers; it is a skill that must be mastered.

For most Ghanaian commuters who are use to enjoying free rides from benevolent private car owners, asking them to pay for same comes as a complete surprise to many.

“Boss, it is not easy ooo; sometimes you pick some people and when they get down they just say thank you, and walk away.

“So now what I do is to tell them the fare as soon as they sit down. Those who can afford will sit, and those who can’t will get down”, one of the drivers said.

In other jurisdictions, car pooling is one of the easiest ways people put together resources to manage their transport expenses.

Car pooling is an arrangement whereby several participants or their children travel together in one vehicle, with the participants sharing the costs and often taking turns as the driver.

This idea is yet to gain prominence in Ghana.