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Huge boost for public transport
PASSENGER numbers across the island have risen 41 per cent since the new public transport system was put in place two months ago, the communications minister said yesterday.
Minister Erato Kozakou Marcoullis said some 1.7 million passengers travelled on the buses in July and August 2010, compared to 1.2 million in the same period last year.
Larnaca topped the list with a 390 per cent increase, carrying 49,000 passengers compared to 10,000 in 2009.
In Nicosia, 740,000 people used the bus – 140,000 more than last year, chalking up a 24 per cent increase.
Limassol recorded a 22 per cent increase with 110,000 passengers while the Famagusta bus company carried 245,800 people – a 59 per cent hike.
Paphos was close with a 55 per cent increase or 543,511 passengers.
During the same period, intercity buses recorded a 54 per cent increase in travellers to 30,000 compared to 19,500 in 2009.
“We are satisfied … with the development so far. We are still at the beginning, we should all show understanding and patience to see this system gradually develop in the manner we all want it to develop,” Marcoullis told reporters at parliament where she briefed the Communications Committee on the operation of the new system.
The minister urged any members of the public who might have suggestions, complaints or demands, to submit them so that the necessary corrective actions are taken regarding specific routes and specific timetables that need to be covered.
As regards bus-stop signs, Marcoullis said 4,013 have been installed so far with 2,000 more in the pipeline mainly for rural areas in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca.
“The Paphos and Famagusta districts have been fully covered with bus stops,” she said.
The new service provides lower priced tickets of €1 as opposed to the previous €1.30, with monthly tickets costing just €30. There is also greater frequency of buses and newer vehicles equipped with air-conditioning.
New buses are already in operation in Nicosia and Paphos while Limassol expects delivery inside November.
The scheme, which bus companies entered to create the new service, sets 2013 as the deadline for companies to renew their fleets.
The procedure to compensate bus owners who opted not to join the new scheme is still ongoing.
The deadline for the submission of compensation applications ends on December 31, 2010.
