# Trotro fares — accra.cool > Live GPRTU-set trotro fares for 80+ Accra routes, with trend arrows and route finder. ## Current snapshot - **cheapest route: Circle to Kaneshie at GHS 3.60** — short cross-town hop — up 20% post-June 2 - **fares now in line with current NPA window** — June 2 adjustment caught fares up to fuel - **last GPRTU adjustment: 2 June 2026** — nationwide 20% increase - **longest route: Tema to Madina at GHS 14.40** — 28 km via motorway — up 20% post-June 2 - **15 routes on the homepage** — 80+ tracked across the network ## Why trotro fares are everyone's number The trotro is how Accra moves. 80% of Greater Accra's daily commuters take at least one trotro segment to get to work, school, or market. When the GPRTU adjusts fares — as it did 20% nationwide on 2 June 2026 — it's the single biggest cost-of-living event most households will see this year, ahead of fuel-price moves and ahead of food-price moves. The fare is set per route by the union, posted at the lorry station, and the conductor (mate) collects the exact amount. Fare structure is not negotiable; if a route is set at ₵6.60, every passenger pays ₵6.60 regardless of luggage, time of day, or weather. ## How trotro fares track fuel Trotro fares track petrol prices with a 2 to 4 week lag, but the May 2026 fare adjustment broke the pattern. When NPA's window moved petrol from ₵14.60 to ₵15.20 in the late-May review and diesel surged past ₵17 — partly due to the government removing petrol-side intervention while reducing diesel subsidy — GPRTU went straight to a 20% nationwide fare increase effective 2 June 2026. The lag exists because GPRTU negotiates a flat fare schedule rather than auto-indexing — every adjustment is a discrete negotiation. The June 2 adjustment was the largest in two years and brought fares almost exactly in line with current fuel costs, leaving no immediate lag. ## Station fares vs pickup fares A trotro that fills at the lorry station charges the standard route fare. The same vehicle picking up passengers along the route from a roadside flag-down typically charges 50p–₵1 more to compensate for the partial trip. This isn't officially in the GPRTU schedule but is universally practiced. The exception is short fixed-rate hops within a neighborhood (e.g., Madina internal at ₵1.50), which are flat regardless of where you board. If the conductor's asking price seems wrong, ask another passenger — the right fare is universally known on each route. ## Three kinds of trotro routes Long-distance intercity: Circle to Madina, Tema Station to Tudu — high-volume corridor routes, mate calls "fillup" only when seats are full. Short cross-town: Adabraka to Osu, Achimota to Lapaz — mid-volume, leaves on a partial fill at the conductor's discretion. Internal neighborhood: Madina-internal, Tema Community 1-internal — flat-rate ₵1.50–₵2.50 per ride within a defined zone. The fare-per-kilometre rises sharply on the internal routes — convenience pricing for short hops where alternatives are limited. ## How GPRTU negotiates fare increases The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) is the umbrella body that sets fares for the registered private commercial transport sector. Adjustments happen when fuel prices, vehicle parts costs, or insurance premiums move materially. The union polls regional executives, drafts a proposed schedule, then negotiates with the Ministry of Transport. The agreed schedule is published and takes effect on a specified date — typically 7–14 days after announcement. Drivers who charge above the schedule get reported to the union; drivers who charge below it (rare) face peer pressure to align. The June 2026 20% adjustment followed roughly six weeks of negotiation triggered by the diesel surge. ## When sharing a taxi beats trotro A shared "dropping" taxi typically costs 2–3x the trotro fare for the same route but completes the trip in half the time. The break-even point depends on how much you value the time saved. For the Circle–Madina route, trotro is ₵6.60 and takes 45–60 minutes; a dropping taxi is ₵18–25 and takes 25 minutes. If you earn ₵40/hour or more, the taxi pays back on time saved. Ride-hail (Bolt, Yango) sits between trotro and taxi on price; closer to taxi on time. The trotro stays the default because it's walkable from where most people live and predictable. ## How we track 80+ routes We monitor 80+ registered GPRTU routes across Greater Accra. Each route has a fixed fare, an origin station, a destination station, and a typical route length. Fare changes get sampled by direct enquiry at the lorry station within 48 hours of any announced adjustment. The 15-route subset shown on the homepage is the highest-search-volume routes plus a representative cross-section of intercity, cross-town, and internal types. The full sheet is maintained internally and published on the landing page after every GPRTU adjustment. ## Methodology Fare data is sourced from GPRTU adjustments and direct station enquiry. Route definitions follow official GPRTU registry. Distance and typical travel time estimates use Google Maps with peak-hour multipliers based on Greater Accra Department of Urban Roads congestion data. Fare history (in trotro_fare_history) captures every GPRTU adjustment since 2024. Routes can have multiple fares simultaneously for different vehicle types (sprinter vs urvan vs sumo) — we publish the standard 12-seater sprinter fare unless otherwise noted. --- Source: accra.cool. View the live interactive version at https://accra.cool/trotro Attribution: accra.cool desk.