How to improve public transport

Sir,

I was most interested by the article “Action, not words” on the subject of public transport in last week’s Sunday Mail. There can be no doubt that the public transport system in Nicosia is in dire need of improvement. I do not need to repeat your arguments, but would add that the lack of information is one major aspect preventing many people from using the buses rather than private transport, and reliable, accurate timetabling is essential if this trend is to be countered.

Living at the far end of one of the routes that travel in to Solomou Square, if I want to cross town and go to, say, Kaimakli, I must take two buses (and pay two fares);  I know when I can board the bus near my home, but there is no information available as to when the bus reaches Solomou, so I cannot judge whether I shall be able to make a connection to the other route. Result: I catch an earlier bus and waste half an hour or more hanging around the bus station waiting for the connection. Same thing on the way back.  And if one wants to catch a bus at any other stop en route, there is no information at the stop as to when the bus should arrive. 

A simple solution to this would be to do away with Solomou Square entirely as a terminus, and create a network of routes that cross town from one side to the other, with additional routes going round the outside.  Some of the services should be “rapid”, going by more direct routes than the present meandering ones, and stopping only a few times rather than every few hundred yards.  Add in a mini-network of mini-buses circulating round the central area, and we might have a service that deserved the name.

As far as fares are concerned, the system whereby the ticket that you buy is time-stamped and valid for a fixed period (say, two hours) would allow for a change of buses, or for a quick trip into town to carry out one or two short errands and return home within the period of validity. This would encourage many more people to use the bus and leave the car at home.

I live in hopes of improvement – but miracles take time.

Hilary Ives, Nicosia

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