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A pointless discussion has resurfaced about the need to build a tramway for Nicosia while no one talks about why people shun public transport, especially the buses that have renewed fleets, improved networks and the occasional extended service.
Let’s admit it – it’s a culture problem. As with many things reminiscent of the island’s past struggles and poverty, society nowadays would not accept surrendering the comfort of gas-guzzling cars in exchange for the bus, even though the fare is cheaper than driving into town.
But this would also mean sitting with other ‘non-native’ passengers, tolerating a caste system and social exclusion.
Looking at the logistics, arguing in favour of a tram is ridiculous, while talk of a metro is plain stupid, considering the huge cost of introducing and running such a system, let alone ripping apart roads to build the infrastructure.
This would never be justified considering the capital’s population is a mere 300,000, equivalent to a neighbourhood of any megalopolis.
Having a tram connection between towns would never be feasible, as the critical mass for passenger numbers is just not there, no matter how many millions of tourists converge on Cyprus.
The budget for such an ambitious plan cannot be burdened on the taxpayer, either, who is only now catching up with paying local administration dues, sewerage taxes and other bills after the 2012/13 crisis pulverised the finances of almost every household and SME business.
What Cyprus needs, once the merger of municipalities is complete and economies of scale are introduced across the board in all services, is a culture change and proper incentives for people to use public transport, as once the revenues start rolling in, more will be re-invested into improving the bus network.
The bus lanes on most roads are hardly ever used, for the lack of a sufficient number of buses passing through.
Even bicycle lanes are underutilised, with riders and pedestrians, in general, facing poor workmanship and a slew of other obstacles. No wonder, people have good intentions, but soon give up.
If just one official decided to set a good example, then you would be amazed at the number of people who would opt for the big blue bus rather than the nerve-wrecking car, often with a single driver-passenger, listening to pipe music or worse, politicians, doctors and teachers hollering over the radio waves to promote themselves.
Nicosia, for one, has only two bus routes that cut across town, which makes going to the general hospital a major challenge, as the centralised system does not allow for connection hubs or better- designed grids allowing people to hop off a bus and catch the next one, relatively quickly.
With hardly any of the members of parliament behind the wheel of an eco-friendly hybrid, let alone an all-electric car, the public perception is, simply, “why should I, when others don’t?”
This would all be put behind us if just one member of the cabinet decided to show the government’s trust in the public transport system by taking the bus for a month.
With twelve of them around, you’d have a government official riding a bus, possibly even interacting with the ‘hoi polloi’, for a change. It’s not that difficult, you should just try it.
