Now let’s fix the buses
Last week’s futile strike by disgruntled taxi drivers at Larnaca airport, primarily aimed at the competition from the efficient city-to-airport shuttle companies, shows that there is a need for proper and affordable public transport in Cyprus.
This ‘closed shop’ mentality of the taxi drivers that has forced fares to rise exorbitant levels, making a 5-minute trip anywhere in Nicosia or Limassol as expensive as taking a black cab in London, has to stop and the best way is to allow more competition.
On the other hand, those who cannot afford to be driven in a Mercedes to work, turn to the alternative form of public transport that is dreaded by students, workers and pensioners alike – the bus!
Transport Minister Nicos Nicolaides was right to exclaim publicly that the current level of bus service does not satisfy anyone.
Having met with a delegation representing 230 bus owners from Limassol and having already concluded a short-term deal with their colleagues from the Famagusta area, Nicolaides has until December 3 to come up with major reform in the transport sector, after which the EU will forbid any state collusion for public transport contracts.
The state has already exhausted its 32-million-euro budget in subsidies that has been paid to bus companies and cooperatives to transport only public school students and pensioners, and in the form of compensation for losses. However, there seems to be no accountability and no commitment on behalf of the bus owners to improve their services, run efficient routes and be affordable for all the public to use and help reduce the dependence on high consumption cars that push pollution and emission levels to new highs.
Sure, there is a need to fully subsidise rural public transport as part of the government policy to support village and isolated communities. And this should be encouraged, maybe even enhanced, to promote short trips to rural areas and to subsidise small enterprises that need to get their goods and to and from towns cheaply.
But continuing to subsidise otherwise healthy urban bus companies that relish on their monopolistic security, while they do nothing else to promote new routes and provide affordable services, is nothing less than negligent waste of tax money which we pay and getting nothing in return.
Perhaps Minister Nicolaides should enquire about the way trains are run in the U.K., whereby those contractors who cannot keep up a network or a route are forced to hand back their franchise and these may be nationalised once again, in the name of public interest.
If bus companies are given golden subsidies, they should at least return the favour with a decent and affordable network. Otherwise, they should stop grumbling and hand in their licences for other to run them better than they can.
