Pilot school bus program for primary school students to start in September

Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Yiannis Karousos, announced on Wednesday that a government pilot program offering primary school students bus service to and from their schools will begin in September.

According to Karousos, students will be picked up from their homes by bus, an attendant will be available to coordinate the process, and they will be transported to their schools.  At the end of the school day, they will then be returned by bus to their respective homes.

The Minister said that the program will be implemented on a pilot basis for a period of six months, after which it should become a permanent service.

For the pilot project, participating schools were chosen from urban, tourist, remote and mountain areas.  Students will not be required to pay for the service during the testing phase, however, after the pilot ends there will be a minimal charge set for students to use the service.  According to Karousos, the charge will be somewhere along the lines of 10 euros per month, alleviating the financial burden for families.

Karousos hopes the program will make life easier for parents of primary school students and ease traffic congestion.