6 minute read
Follow the yellow bike road
Accra has some new vehicles on its car-clogged streets, but, rather than adding to the capital’s notorious traffic issues, the Go City Cycles fleet of yellow bicycles – equally identifiable at night illuminated by neon tubing – has been introduced to lead a movement towards cleaner city travel. FLYafrica speaks to the start-up’s co-founder, Mark Boadi.
Mark Boadi knows very well the toll Accra’s transportrelated air pollution takes on its residents. His mother has asthma, a condition exacerbated by vehicle exhaust fumes, and “has been in and out of hospital more times than I can count”, he says.
While Ghana’s government has led the way on the continent in introducing standards for motor vehicle emissions and imported fuels, Boadi felt huge improvements in the city’s air quality could be made by reducing the reliance on car travel and nurturing a cycling culture.
Grand aims
The 27-year-old entrepreneur, who has a track record of ventures with an eco-friendly remit, co-founded Go City Cycle in 2018 with his business partner Kevin Apeku. Currently, the project has 25 of its distinctive bright yellow-framed bicycles available for hire or for group tours in the city from its base in the Ako Adjei neighbourhood, but there are plans scheduled for late 2021 to increase the fleet to three figures and introduce a mobile phone app-operated bike-sharing scheme across the country.
Boadi has grand aims for the project that go beyond the personal and the plight of his mother. He says: “I decided to create an alternative form of transportation in Ghana, in so doing many people like her would not have to suffer from illnesses because of Co2 emissions. The goal is to make and enforce cycling culture in Ghana in general, seeing 50 per cent of the country cycling and in so doing [drive] demand for cycling lanes here.”
While Boadi is convinced of the manifold benefits of cycling – for the environment and the cyclist – he is equally aware of the obstacles that stand in the way of its widespread adoption in Ghana beyond the absence of infrastructure such as cycling lanes.
He says: “Cycling is a great cardiovascular exercise and riding in Accra you get to see the city in a way that is not in a rush, experiencing more than travelling in a car or tro tro can give you. You are also contributing to reducing and reversing Co2 emissions and the negative impact fuel cars have on the environment.
“There’s definitely more than few challenges in getting cycling to become part of the culture in Ghana, but that’s why we are here to slowly create a culture and trend for cycling. We intend to introduce multiple bike-sharing fleets across the whole country with mobile phone tracking and a payment app. We will pilot the scheme on university campuses before scaling up country-wide operations.”
TOURS ON TWO WHEELS
Exploring Accra
Cycling lessons
Accra and Ghana’s other major cities still have far to travel before they accept bicycles as a viable option for commuting or leisure trips. While cyclists are a common sight in more rural areas, in urban centres the car is the star. In a metropolis like Accra, having your own car is a status symbol, even if it means you mostly get to enjoy it broiling motionless in gridlocked traffic. For many living in the capital, cycling is so alien an option they have never ridden a bicycle before. The safety fears of cycling novices only add to the barriers of taking up the pastime. Go City Cycles has sought to address this cycling proficiency gap with group tuition sessions at the weekends.
“Since we began, we have had a lot of people requesting lessons so we decided to put together training sessions on Saturdays in Ako Adjei,” Boadi says. “We charge 300 Ghc per month as that’s how long it usually takes for our trainers to get students to a level where they can handle, balance, and manoeuvre their way to destinations safely.”
Once people feel safe in the saddle the Go City Cycles fleet is there for them to use. The unisex bikes are all identical, simple to use and maintained in excellent working order by an in-house mechanic. Each bike has a shopping basket, adjustable saddle height and dropped cross bar and is available to hire for short, impromptu trips or to take home for longer use once all forms and ID checks have been provided.
“We chose these bikes to give ease and comfort to people of all ages and gender, hence the low cross bar that enables users to easily mount and dismount.
“The rental rate starts at GHC10 per hour if you’re bringing the bike back on the same day, but you can rent for a monthly subscription period with a membership card for GHC 200 and get to keep the bikes in your house for that period.”
However long you rent for you’ll be provided with a safety helmet and a reflective vest. Your bike will also have been serviced by Go City Cycle’s mechanic, whose services remain available throughout your rental period should any repairs and tweaks be needed.
Hub for cyclists
The bikes can be found in Osu at Impact Hub Accra, a creative working space that includes Go City Cycle among its membership of innovative start-ups aiming to add to life in Ghana. The hub houses creatives from all over the world and they have taken to the bikes as a way of traversing the city, but use of the fleet is available to anyone.
Go City Cycle has also diversified to sustain the business, offering bike tours of Accra to visitors to the city. The guided tours take in landmarks such as Independence Arch, Osu Castle, Jamestown, the Accra Art Center, the Kwame Nkrumah memorial, Makola market and many more pit stops along the way. They have proved so popular that Go City Cycle has added a night tour – essentially a party on two wheels in which the bikes are lit up with neon tubing on the frames and spokes and the guide is playing tunes from a boombox as he rides in front. The tour group also gets to bond over a meal at Theia House, a café inside Impact Hub Accra. “Our tours give people a unique appreciation of the city,” Boadi says. “On two wheels is the best way to explore. That’s the future of commuting as we plan it to be.”
CYCLING HUB
The Go City Cycles headquarters in Osu
TAKE YOUR PICK
Bikes for hire
The next step towards that future is the bike sharing. Boadi has plans in place for the production of more than 100 Ghana-made timber frame bicycles, which, once the scheme is piloted in Accra, can be picked up and dropped off by members of the scheme at a number of set locations around the city.
It’s an exciting development and one that will begin to spread the word on cycling as a necessity rather than a novelty. It will take time, but for his mother, for Accra, for Ghana, Boadi is in it for the long ride.
SEE THE CITY
Cycling opens up a different side to Accra
For more information on Go City Cycle, to book tours and buy membership for cycle hire, visit gocitycycle.com
Why bikes are best
• On a bicycle, you can travel three times faster than you can walk, for the same amount of energy.
• Bike parking takes up to eight times less space than cars, helping to free up space.
• It is 20 times cheaper to maintain a bicycle than a car.
• Cycling is one of the best pastimes for people who want to reduce the risk of having heart disease or a stroke.
• Cycling saves a third of road space compared to driving to cut congestion.
