Park & Ride service starts at entrance to Nicosia (Update)

Corrective measures will be taken on the new park and ride in Nicosia, after being reevaluated at the end of the month, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday, on the first official day the service began operating.

Speaking to the press after visiting the Acropolis Gymnasium in the capital, Christodoulides also said that on Thursday, the first day of school for secondary school students, a pilot programme will start operating to bring students in Strovolos to school with buses.

On the first two days that the service has been operating, the Cyprus Public Transport (CPT) said that six people used the service, which allows individuals to park their cars at the GSP stadium in Latsia and take a bus into some areas of the capital.

Commenting to a journalist that said traffic on the streets is a serious problem, which is magnified with the opening of schools, the president said that “yesterday at the cabinet, I asked the transport minister to inform me – because I have heard of them [the issues] and experienced them myself, especially in the afternoon when I had to go to some events outside Nicosia yesterday and the day before – and there was serious traffic.”

As he said, it was agreed that at the end of the month there will be an evaluation and if any necessary corrective actions arise “you can be sure that we will do it.”

“Traffic is a problem that especially for Nicosia and Limassol, without saying that the other districts do not have one, it is one of the most important problems, it is something that concerns us,” he said.

He added that a new pilot bus programme covering 12 schools in Strovolos began on Thursday.

“It is a pilot programme that we want to expand to all schools in Nicosia and then throughout Cyprus, which we believe will address the problem of traffic, as it arises every day,” he said.

The new park and ride is expected to significantly contribute to the reduction of traffic congestion observed both at the entrance to Nicosia and in the city centre.

The service is implemented with the cooperation of CPT and the ministry of transport.

As CPT had announced, the new service will operate from Monday to Friday from 6:00am to 4:00pm and will transport passengers from GSP Stadium to the centre of Nicosia with few and specific stops at the Kalispera traffic lights and Limassol and Makarios Avenues.

It is estimated that during peak hours services will run every 10 to 15 minutes and at other times every half hour.

Drivers who choose the park & ​​ride service will be able to park their cars for free at the GSP stadium and also travel to and from the city centre for free.

At the same time, a new bus lane was created at the entrance to Nicosia, with the aim of allowing users of the service to reach their destination more quickly and comfortably, as reported by CPT.