The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) Transport Department is exploring ways to deploy a software application to manage transport activities in and around the City Market Complex.

In view of this, the authorities are linking up with ShrinQ, an Information Technology (IT) hub, to help control the exit and entry of vehicles within the precincts of the market complex.

Mr Samuel Pyne, the City Mayor, said an agreement for a full rollout in connection with the initiative would soon be signed.

The move is in line with the Smart City/Office Project, which had chosen the transport sector as one of its implementing areas.

Mr Pyne, who was addressing the first ordinary meeting of the third session of the Eight Assembly, in Kumasi, said so far, the Project had led to the gathering and input of about 80 per cent of data on all transport activities in the city.

This is in terms of drivers, vehicles and all intra-city (trotro) and taxi stations.

The database had also been used to issue transport operating stickers to about 5,000 commercial vehicles in the city, the Mayor, said, adding that an app and a web page had been developed to periodically update transport data from the field.

Closely related to this is the ‘TransInfoMap’ Project, which is being supported by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC).

“The aim is to make the KMA Transport Department a model in Ghana by leveraging on modern Information and Communications Technology (ICT) techniques to help employees work smarter, better and faster,” Mr Pyne observed.

The project, according to him, was supposed to be replicated in other municipalities in Kumasi and other parts of the country after its successful implementation.