The minister for transport in Ghana having observed the current congestions in the major cities in the country, have decided to seek policy approval from cabinet to introduce a bill in Parliament that will promote the use of public transport and facilitate the increased utilization of public transport. At the cabinet meeting, he justifies that cause-and effect relationship illustrates the nature of the transport problem in the country. This cause-and-effect relationship he attributed as follows;

Economic growth leads to increased income and increased income leads to increased in car ownership, Increased car ownership gives rise to less use of public transport and increase usage of private cars leading to congestion and delay. Congestion and delay lead to increased bus operating cost. To survive, operators increase fares, this results in more people shifting from bus usage to private car usage leading to reduce bus frequency. This ultimately makes car more attractive. To break the cycle, he is proposing a bill that will provide priority lanes to public transport and also government giving subsidies to operators on less patronised routes.

Cabinet in approving the policy proposal directed that transport plans must be developed to give higher priority to public transport usage than private transport by ensuring the provision of adequate public transport services and applying travel demand measures to discourage private cars.

Parliament approves the bill and passes i into law based on the objective of promoting public transport and discourage the use of private cars to address the consequences of congestion and delay.

Question;

a) According to the case study, the intention of government is clear. Identify the intention of government and how this intention seeks to promote public transport.

b) As a student of transport studies, what benefits will the new law bring to the transport system and which category of transport is the law targeting?

c) List and explain four(4) travel demand measures that can be used to discourage the use of private cars and promote public transport.

d) Explain four(4) ways in which an increased use of public transport can be sustained.