Traffic Jams Return to Cyprus as the School Year Begins

As the summer holidays come to an end and the new school year starts, Cyprus is once again seeing significant traffic congestion. The volume on the main roads has surged back to pre-summer levels.

In an interview with state broadcaster CyBC, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades acknowledged that the country’s road network is "currently unable to cope with the increasing traffic load."

“To address this, the government is implementing medium- and long-term strategies, including encouraging more students to use buses for their daily commute,” Vafeades explained.

Currently, around 18,500 students take the bus to school. The minister said the goal is to increase that number by at least another 2,000.

“If we can remove just 500 cars from the streets of Limassol and Nicosia, it would significantly ease traffic in these two cities, which are heavily congested,” the minister emphasized.

It’s worth noting that secondary schools resumed classes on Friday, September 6, while primary school students returned on Monday, September 9.

Additionally, just two days before the school year started, fares for student and school bus rides were reduced across the country.