Cyprus Public Transport on Wednesday night announced its intention to cancel school buses on some routes in Larnaca and Nicosia because buses are being continuously vandalised.
The company said it will file an official request to the transport ministry to have the routes on which the instances of vandalism have occurred ceased, “in light of all the vandalism cases which have occurred”.
“This is due to extensive damage to buses … the cost of damage reaching an unsustainable level, and the fact that no compensation has been received for said damage,” it added.
“As this behaviour is not being controlled or penalised, the company cannot continue to incur costs due to damages to be able to operate these routes.”
Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades reacted to the news by telling the Cyprus Mail the reported incidents were “unacceptable”, while also adding that his ministry had been informed of incidents of violence against bus drivers on school routes.
He added that it was his intention for those who vandalise buses and assault drivers to “face consequences”, including being temporarily or even permanently banned from using buses.
“A child who attacks a driver should definitely be banned from taking the bus, if not for ever, at the very least for a period of time. This infringes on drivers’ rights to feel safe at work,” he said.
He added that on the matter of vandalism, he will have to take time to examine the cases reported by Cyprus Public Transport, as well as the company’s formal request for routes to be ceased, but said that where instances of bad behaviour occur, he is determined to find and punish the perpetrators.
“We will of course intervene and punish the perpetrators, and it is with this in mind that we hope to be able to find a way to not have these routes cancelled, but instead find a solution which allows the buses to keep running and for drivers’ safety to be ensured,” he said.
“When other similar incidents have occurred in the past, we have had supervisors riding on buses to be able to watch out for bad behaviour and deter would-be perpetrators from either attacking drivers or doing other things which they should not be doing while on the bus.”
He said his ministry’s priority was for the buses to continue operating and to find the perpetrators and punish them.
“If someone is misbehaving on the bus, they are putting the lives of 50 other people in danger, and we cannot accept this.”
