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An ambitious public transport plan announced by the Cyprus government promises comfortable buses every 10-15 minutes running 16 hours a day, and possibly a tram service for Nicosia and Limassol in an attempt to lure commuters away from their cars.

The new transport plan, when in place, will be offered free of charge to the public for 1-2 years in order for them to get to know it, the Head of the Project Management Team, Michalis Lambrinos, said. “All the issues are open, we know what the alternatives are and we are open to dialogue in order to make this a success,” he added.

Cyprus trails sadly behind all other EU countries in the use of public transport with only 2% of the population bothering to take a bus, most of this meagre percentage is made up of foreign workers and schoolchildren. Successive governments have deplorably failed to address the issue, resulting in the island being swamped by private cars, 520,000 is the latest figure, at a chillingly high cost of human lives lost in road accidents, damage to the environment from exhaust fumes and a soaring fuel import bill.

Announcing the plan at a press conference in Nicosia, Communications and Works Minister Haris Thrassou said that the government aims to spend Cy£275000 over the next 10 years, in order to increase the use of public transport to 10% by 2015. The EU will chip in 50 million euros from its structural funds, which will be spent first, the Minister said.

Starting this year, implementation measures involve the drawing up of public transport master plans for each town and district, preparation of contract terms for the management of public transport, specifications for new buses and big new junction in Nicosia, Limassol, Paphos and Paralimni.

The actual system will feature bus lanes on a large scale with bus priority at traffic lights, new sheltered bus-stops equipped with electronic information boards, automatic ticket sales and the construction of central bus stations. The system will be completed with park-and-ride facilities outside towns, where commuters from the regions would leave their cars and catch a bus into town, coupled with restricted access of cars to the city centre.

There will be two such park-and-ride facilities for Nicosia, one at the GSP stadium, for motorists coming from the south and south-east and one at the Makarios Stadium, for the western and southwestern approaches to the capital. In order for the system to be able to function smoothly, the urban road network would have to be completed and pavements constructed everywhere.

The island-wide introduction of school buses, currently on a trial basis, is relied upon both to enhance passenger capacity and to create awareness of public transport in the long run. It will cost a total of Cy£10 million for the school-bus project.

Asked if the school bus will be compulsory, Lambrinos said that the aim of the new transport system was to avoid anything compulsory. He noted that a “means of mass communication” was also envisaged as a possibility for Nicosia and perhaps Limassol, most probably in the form of a tram service, but said many considerations would have to be weighed before making a final decision.

One of the issues that remain open is the ownership of the future public transport. Lambrinos, who is Public Works Department Senior Executive Engineer, said that the government favoured private ownership in accordance with its free competition philosophy. He noted that preliminary contacts with some of the existing bus companies had shown they were interested in having a part to play in the new system. This, he added, would have to be examined from the legal point of view, including the EU, which prevented state subsidy.

Other forms of ownership, although remote, could not be ruled out, such as the government’s Road Transport Department forming a private company together with the Municipalities concerned, or a public utility company even. Lambrinos noted that the ownership question would have to be addressed when the time came to purchase the new buses. This would start at the end of 2007 and the total cost is estimated at Cy£86 million.

In order to facilitate the implementation of the public transport programme, the government has allocated more than £1 million for the purchase of services from the private sector. “What is of crucial importance is to specify as accurately as possible the services that would be offered by the public transport system,” Lambrinos said.

He noted that the system would cover as much of the wider urban areas as possible, with buses running timetables in all of the Municipalities and in the case of Nicosia in Tseri, Yeri and Lakatamia, possibly Deftera as well. At the same time, rural bus routes would be improved as well, encouraging transport companies to pool together so as to be able to cover long and short itineraries.

The bus service could start as early as 5am–6am and finish at 9pm-10pm, with night buses running till later and possibly an all-night service as well. Waiting time at the bus-stop would be about 15 minutes, reduced to 10 minutes in peak hours.

A Steering Committee under the Communications and Works Permanent Secretary will monitor the implementation of the programme scheduled to last from 2007 through to 2013. The President of the Municipalities Union will also participate in the Committee.

The projects envisaged for the completion of the primary urban road network include the following >

• In Nicosia a new junction at Archangelos Avenue (cost Cy£9million), the Strovolos Northern and Southern Tangential (cost Cy£50million) and the University primary road network (cost Cy£10million)
• In Limassol a link road between the Limassol Port and Limassol-Paphos highway (cost Cy£14million) and the construction of the northern urban by-pass (cost Cy£6million)
• In Paphos, improvement on Demokratias Avenue and Tombs of the Kings Avenue (total cost Cy£20.5million) and the airport link road (cost Cy£14million)
• In Paralimni, construction of the Paralimini-Dherynia road (cost Cy£3.5million) and Kennedy Avenue (cost Cy£11million).