Ioanna Kyriakou
The "Park & Ride" service will have extended operating hours starting next Monday, September 18. This announcement was made during today's meeting of the Parliamentary Education Committee by Andreas Nikiforou, the Head of the Public Passenger Transport Directorate at the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Works. Originally planned to run from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the service will now operate from 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The purpose behind extending the service hours is to cater to a larger number of passengers, particularly private sector workers. The initial reason for not implementing this extension was a shortage of drivers. Mr. Nikiforou expressed the service's success, with 150 people already having used it by 8:00 a.m. this morning, and an expected passenger count exceeding 400 by the end of the day. It's worth noting that on the service's first day, it had only 50 passengers.
The "Park & Ride" service operates from Monday to Friday, offering frequent urban transportation from the GSP Stadium to Nicosia's city center, with a focus on peak hours and stops at Fota Kalispera, Limassol, and Makarios avenues. During peak hours, services are expected to run every 10 to 15 minutes, and less frequently during other times. Users of the service can park their cars for free at the GSP Stadium and enjoy a complimentary ride to the city center and vice versa. Additionally, a new bus lane has been established at the entrance to Nicosia to facilitate quicker transportation for service users.
The Parliamentary Committee on Education also discussed various topics during the meeting, including the need for more frequent long-distance and urban bus services to and from higher education institutions, potential changes to public transport operating hours to accommodate student transportation between provinces, and issues related to student accommodations along with proposed solutions.
