TraffiTech-GH: Viewing enforcement as revenue tool derails road safety efforts – Sharif Khalid

Economic Advisor to the Office of the Vice President, Sharif Mahmud Khalid, has cautioned against viewing the TraffiTech-GH automated traffic enforcement system primarily as a revenue-generating initiative, arguing that such an approach could undermine its road safety objectives.

He said the timing of the programme’s implementation, ahead of the busy Christmas season, suggested that the authorities were more focused on public awareness and improving road discipline than generating revenue from traffic fines.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, November 7, Mr Khalid said focusing on the financial returns from the system could distract from the government’s objective of reducing dangerous driving and improving safety on the roads.

“So to look at it from a revenue point of view derails the effort of a government trying to instill safety and public sanity,” he said.

He argued that if the intention was primarily to generate revenue through traffic fines, the authorities would have waited until December, when vehicle movement and traffic volumes are expected to increase significantly because of the Christmas festivities and activities associated with Detty December.

Mr Khalid noted that the responsible implementation agencies had instead chosen November to create public awareness before the peak festive season.

“Christmas period is the peak of all of this. But responsible as the implementation, you know, agencies are, they decide that a month to Christmas, November. Let’s try it to give some public awareness,” he said.

He added that a revenue-driven approach would have favoured launching the system during December, when increased traffic could potentially result in more violations and fines.

“If it was for revenue purposes, they would just launch in December, when you have loads of cars on the streets. You have Detty December happening. Then you have numbers peaking. Then we can talk about it. But when you start things like this, and we start to look at it from a monetary point of view, it derails the effort,” he added.

His comments come amid public discussions over the financial arrangements underpinning TraffiTech-GH, particularly the revenue-sharing structure between the government and its private-sector partners.

The debate has centred on whether linking the private operator’s earnings to revenue from traffic fines could create incentives that conflict with the programme’s primary objective of improving road safety.