Public transport in Cyprus
The short travel distances in Cyprus and the fact that nearly every family has at least one car, which is used for journeys both in and outside the cities, has curbed the development of public transport. Cyprus comes first internationally in private car ownership.
According to a report by the International Road Federation, in 2007 in Cyprus there were
746 vehicles for every 1000 inhabitants. United States were in fifth position with 675 vehicles for every 1000 inhabitants, France ranked 10 th
, Japan 11 th
and the UK 21 st
.
However, Cyprus has 37.9 vehicles per km of roads and ranks 34th most crowded country; comparable with France. It is less congested than Greece, the Netherlands and the UK which comes 15th with 78.7 veh/km.
Public transport in Cyprus is limited. There are no trains but there are inter-urban public bus services connecting major towns and urban buses which run in most large towns and tourist centres. There are also rural buses which connect smaller villages to their nearest towns. Routes and time tables of urban, interurban and rural buses and taxis are controlled by the Regional Licensing Authorities. The fares for all the passenger service vehicles are fixed by the Department of Road Transport of the Ministry of
Communications and Works which also: a) Implements government policy regarding road services offered to the public and control and regulation of the services b) Handles vehicle registration, issues vehicle road licenses, tests vehicles for road worthiness and issues driving licenses.
The Department has developed a reformed financial scheme to encourage and promote the development of peripheral bus companies through financial motivation, so as to support high quality, low cost, safe and fast citizen transportation as a basic contribution to communities.
Larnaca
Larnaca, with its sea port and international airport is the international gateway to Cyprus.
It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The city was originally called Kition in and the ruins of the ancient city that can still be seen in the northwest of
Larnaca, featuring the remains of five temples dating back to the 13th century BC. The surrounding area beyond the city is also a treasure-trove of historic ruins from the
Neolithic period onwards.
The city of Larnaca has over fifty two thousand registered vehicles to a population of around seventy thousand. When compared with average
European cities it appears rather small but it is in fact the third largest city in Cyprus.

Similar with other cities in Cyprus, road transport services are provided by the private sector. In Larnaca there are 22 inter-urban buses but the majority of the buses belong to the tourist sector, numbering 500 in total from various companies. Part of government measures to reduce the unnecessary use of private vehicles has been the subsidy of bus travel for students attending public schools. Student transport in Larnaca is provided by
63 urban and 93 rural buses. There are around two thousand students from the city and over four thousand from Larnaca’s rural areas that make use of the provided services.
Subsidising a student bus comes to about €24,000 per annum. Nationally, over €17m 1
are used to cover annual student transportation costs; €4m are for Larnaca. For urban areas, students travelling distances under 9km receive the amount of €32.65 each month and for distances over 9km, €39.20. To be eligible for subsidised travel, urban area students must live at least 2.4km from their school. For students travelling to city schools from rural areas, bus travel is also subsidised. Students receive per week €19.30 for distances up to
25km; for distances over that the amount becomes €24. These amounts reflect the maximum equivalent cost of travelling with these buses.
Photos: Students boarding buses outside Makarios III Lyceum in Larnaca
1 For the school year 2006/07

It used to be that students paid for their daily, weekly or monthly pass and at the end of each term they got a refund from their school administration or directly from their regional Vehicle Licensing Authority. Now the system changed and bus operators are paid directly from the authority – bus cards are provided for urban travel but for the rural services it is more informal; the students are known by each bus driver.
A further initiative piloted this year includes free urban bus provision for all students.
The purpose is to provide students with this option when travelling from school to their afternoon activities, whether it is school related or not. This scheme, similar to the subsidisation, runs during school term-time, which is equivalent to 175 days a year.
Objectives connected to both of these related schemes include:

Preventing congestion outside city schools during the morning and afternoon rush hours;

Providing viable alternatives to travel for students;

Helping students stay away from driving scooters, motorbikes and cars to schools, either legally or illegally, and minimising parking problems around school neighbourhoods and the risk of accidents;

Contributing to change the travel behaviour of future citizens of Cyprus.

Author:
Petros Ieromonachou, University of Greenwich (+44(0)20 8331 8131, ip07@gre.ac.uk
)
Contact:
Markos Markou, Senior Transportation Officer, Larnaca Vehicle Licensing Authority
(+357(0)24 828 256)
Further information:
Department of Road Transport, Ministry of Communications and Works
(www.mcw.gov.cy/)