THE LIMASSOL Urban Buses Company is putting the final touches to an agreement it will soon sign with the government for the improvement of services that will come with the purchase of 117 city buses and 25 minibuses in the next three years.
“We are at the end of the prehistoric era”, Director of the Limassol Urban Buses Company, George Kyriacou said. The operation of this outdated urban bus transport operation that existed from 1977 has come to an end. The bus fleet of Limassol starting this year is expected to begin to transform and use of buses is expected to expand significantly through an agreement with the government.
The start was made with the route to and from Larnaca airport and the free transportation of pupils to schools. “What we consider to be a success is the airport experiment .Nobody expected that Cypriots would trust buses for their transport,” said Kyriacou.
He said the final touches to the new services were currently being discussed before the agreement between the government and the Limassol urban Buses Company is signed.
For the next three years, 117 city buses, and approximately 25 minibuses will be purchased, Kyriacou said.
He also said a new road network would be designed to cover all the routes with stops and bus shelters, and ticket machines would be added on the buses. In addition the scheme of the free transfer of students to all schools will be reinforced and the university quick transfer service would also be expanded.
Also among the planned changes will be the creation of a second lane on the coastal avenue, the connection of urban transport with the airport bus services, the linking of rural and urban transport, and the creation of a modern bus maintenance centre.
Three and a half thousand students in Limassol use the free transport service scheme. The service has now extended to two more schools in the Limassol district – Ayios Spyridonas Lyceum, which has 900 students, and the Ayia Varvara High School, with 500 pupils. The free service was designed to reduce traffic congestion in urban centres, save people money, give parents more time, reduce pollution and road accidents, and generate greater awareness of public transport use among the next generation.
Predicting the traffic congestion the significant increase in the number of students of the Technological University (TEPAK) will bring to the city centre, a scheme will soon be implemented specially planned for student bus transport.
In the initial implementation stage, 450 students will be commuting and there will be three routes. The two routes will start from 8.45am from TEPAK and the third will be circular and will start at 8.25am and 8.40am. The return will be arranged depending on the students’ schedules.
Included in the company’s plans is the creation of a transit station near the Technical School. Limassol Urban Buses Company will obtain eighty large buses to connect various areas with the transit station. The passengers will enter Limassol centre via smaller buses so the large buses will not have to move about in the city centre.
