Public transport rethink needed

foreign workers, and pensioners, happy that the ride will add colour to their routine day.

This demand cannot sustain the public transport system as a profitable operation, and subsidies will be needed again.

Nowadays, for a motorist to give way to a bus is like watching a sprinter who sees the ribbon of the finish line ahead and will allow nothing to get in the way.

Although no longer reckless, some with up-to-date training, bus drivers too need to be allowed to do their job – carry passengers to the next destination, on time and safely.

But to do that, reintroducing priority way on the roads must be considered, and properly rethink the bus-lane concept, that failed miserably when an experiment at the entrance of Nicosia a decade ago went wrong, causing more traffic jams and bottlenecks.

Perhaps, a gradual start for schools would be a first step in the right direction, considering that high school students prefer to take the bus, while teenagers need just as much sleep to be more alert and productive in the morning.

An additional half-hour or so could do wonders. With that in mind, changing the work times in the public sector might also need a general overhaul, as well as the banks and public utilities that reflect the lifestyles of most Cypriots.

So before taking the plan for a tramway out of the drawer, costing the taxpayer billions more than is necessary, a better road network is needed to allow buses to operate smoothly.

And preferably, running on electricity and clean energy.