Perception of motorcycle and tricycle crash survivors on the legalisation of motorcycle-taxis debate in Ghana: Evidence from two northern regions

In countries across the Global South, including Ghana, policy development processes rarely directly engage the populations for which the policy was intended. As a result, the anticipated benefits are often not fully realised, leading to unintended consequences. Amid ongoing debates in the transportation sector in Ghana, the objective of this study was to assess the perceptions of motorcycle/tricycle (MCTC) crash survivors on legalising MCTC for commercial use. We designed and implemented a cross-sectional study in six districts across two regions in Northen Ghana in 2022. We fitted logistic regression models to a sample of 857 individual responses. Results showed that respondents who had survived road traffic crashes were generally less likely to support legalising MCTC for commercial use. This relationship weakened substantially and attenuated after accounting for differences in socio-economic, demographic, and geographic factors, with age playing a major role. Participants who believed that MCTC made roads difficult to use or unsafe were also less likely to support MCTC legalisation efforts. In contrast, those who felt that MCTC offered a cheaper way to get around were more likely to support making them legal for commercial use. These findings are insightful and offer policy directions for safe and sustainable transportation planning in Ghana and similar locations, and call for appropriate engagement with the most appropriate population groups in policy formulation.