TITLE:
Discrepancies in Public Transport Fare Proposals in Ghana: A PRISMA Systematic Literature Review of Methods, Governance, and Stakeholder Dynamics
AUTHORS:
Simon Ahumah Ocansey, Charles Anum Adams
KEYWORDS:
Public Transport Fares, Fare Discrepancies, Stakeholder Dynamics, Game Theory Modeling, Transport Pricing Systems
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.5,
May
28,
2026
ABSTRACT: Public transport fare setting remains a critical yet contested policy issue, especially in developing countries where fares directly affect affordability, operator viability, and public trust. This PRISMA-guided systematic literature review synthesizes evidence on fare-setting principles, analytical models, governance structures, stakeholder dynamics, and emerging computational approaches to identify the sources of discrepancies between proposed, approved, and implemented fares. The review draws on 88 selected studies from an initial pool of 1117 records and shows that existing fare models are dominated by cost-recovery, optimization, econometric, and simulation approaches, with limited integration of governance, transparency, and behavioral factors. A major gap identified is the absence of holistic frameworks that jointly incorporate macroeconomic cost drivers, equity concerns, stakeholder power asymmetries, negotiation processes, and real-world enforcement conditions. The review further finds that institutional fragmentation, weak consultation mechanisms, and poor compliance often undermine technically sound pricing models. To address these limitations, the study proposes a hybrid, data-driven and governance-aware fare framework anchored in game-theoretic and multi-objective decision support, capable of balancing affordability, cost recovery, transparency, and stakeholder interests.