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Targets missed for bus use, new tenders to be invited

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Minister of Transport Yiannis Karousos announced that new tenders will be invited in February for a study that will provide the Ministry with guidelines on how to make the bus network more effective in the years to come, Phileleftheros reports.

One of the topics the study will look into is the creation of new bus lanes and the re-planning of old ones if required aiming to better service the bus routes and, by extension, passengers ultimately resulting in the increase of the number of people using buses.

Upon completion of the study, Karousos added, tenders will be invited around September or October for the execution of the works that are expected to begin late 2020 or early 2021.

Phileleftheros notes that the target that had been set by the Ministry to increase bus users to 10% of Cyprus’ population by 2020 has been missed, as bus passengers this year have been estimated at 2%-3% of the population.

In addition, the newspaper points out that while the Ministry was, in theory, advocating in favour of fewer private vehicles on the road, it announced incentives — from cash to building coefficient — to build car parks.

NICOSIA’S MOBILITY PLAN

The “Nicosia Integrated Mobility Master Plan” was put together in 2010 within the Ministry of Transport’s wider target to reach a number of bus users equal to 10% of Cyprus’ population by 2020.

Nicosia was experiencing a serious traffic problem at the time having a car ownership ratio of 600 cars per 1,000 inhabitants.

The plan continues to be in force despite failure to reach targets in 2020, according to municipal and government authorities, and aims to develop a quality public transport network, to create safe cycling conditions to make bicycles a viable alternative to cars for short and medium distance travel, make the city more pedestrian-friendly, and create space for infrastructure to support sustainable modes of transport by redistributing existing space in their favour.

Read more:

https://in-cyprus.com/2019-tourist-arrivals-set-new-record-tables/

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