Study finds hours being wasted in traffic

PUBLIC WORKS delays in major towns means commuters are being forced to sit in traffic much longer and to cover more mileage than necessary.

According to an article in yesterday’s Phileleftheros, traffic congestion is costing towns £25 million on an annual basis, which will only worsen if works are not carried out to help alleviate the heavy vehicular flow.
Drivers are forced to travel longer distances and to go through town centres due to the lack of ring roads. This not only wastes energy and burdens the environment but also forces commuters to spend thousands of productive hours behind the wheel.
According to Public Works department data dating back to 2005, the total distance travelled in three central urban areas (Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos) is over six million car kilometres. Specifically three million kilometres in Nicosia, 2.7 kilometres in Limassol and 540,000 kilometres in Paphos, the local daily said.
As for actual time spent on roads in car hours per day, drivers were spending thousands of wasted hours. Specifically 130,000 drivers in Nicosia, 90,000 in Limassol and 20,000 in Paphos.
Nicosia would benefit greatly from two ring roads that would connect the east and West sides of the city. The projects, included in the Local Plan for Nicosia, are expected to greatly benefit drivers and passengers by reducing travel time, saving fuel and reducing car operation costs.
From the construction of a ring road in the north and south side of the capital 150,000 car hours in travel time will be reduced, equating to £15 million in productivity time.
A further £1 million will be saved in the reduction of movement by 35,000 kilometres, and travel times between east and west Nicosia will be reduced by 35 to 50 per cent, the paper said.

(Cyprus Mail)