The reduction of school bus fares is expected to persuade 2,000 more schoolchildren to travel by bus, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades said on Thursday night.  Speaking after a presentation of plans for two new bus lanes in Limassol, he said the government’s decision to reduce the annual payable amount from €200 to €30 and the monthly amount from €10 to €5 was done with the aim of attracting more people onto buses.  At present, around 18,000 children travel to school by bus, with the government’s cost estimate of the price reduction when the policy was announced a month ago having been based on that figure increasing to 20,000 this academic year.  “Our goal is to attract at least 2,000 students onto the buses, and if we manage to remove 500 cars from the streets of Limassol and 500 cars from the streets of Nicosia, it will mean that these two cities, which suffer from heavy traffic, will see a notable reduction in congestion,” he said.  The transport ministry had clarified on Tuesday that all children wishing to purchase an annual bus ticket must obtain a personalized 'Motion' card, while three-month and six-month tickets have been discontinued.  The school bus fare reduction was one of five grants announced by the government for schoolchildren ahead of the new academic year, with the others mostly focused on the purchase of supplies and equipment.  The government estimated the total cost of the five grants at €9.5m. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: Cyprus Mail