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How Much Longer Can We Endure Cyprus's Traffic Congestion?

Published December 29, 2025, 08:20
How Much Longer Can We Endure Cyprus's Traffic Congestion?

The daily life of a Cypriot driver has become a prolonged test of patience. Our roads, instead of functioning as bridges connecting lives and activities, increasingly resemble time traps that drain energy, productivity, and mood. According to recent research on traffic, presented by traffic engineer Lucas Dimitriou, the average Cypriot driver spends 100 hours a year in their car. An entire week of life lost in waiting, at traffic lights, and in the frustration of traffic. And this only refers to trips made by private car. This fact should not surprise us. 95% of trips in Cyprus are made by private vehicle, creating an unequal pressure on the road network of a country that, although small in size, operates as if it were designed exclusively around the car. To travel 10 kilometers, it takes an average of 26 minutes – a time that exceeds that of many large European capitals with a much larger population. It is no coincidence that in London, according to the research, 57% of citizens use public transport, while in Cyprus the percentage is only 5%. We are therefore living in a paradoxical reality. While everyone complains about the traffic, we insist on exacerbating the problem, remaining trapped in our habits, precisely because the country does not offer us real alternatives. Mr. Dimitriou describes it aptly: a solution to the traffic will only exist if people get out of the car. How, however, can they do so when the options are limited, bus schedules are often inadequate, and the sense of reliability is non-existent? The discussion, therefore, cannot be limited to the fact that “drivers need to change their mindset”. The state must create the necessary conditions to truly change this mindset. We need immediate investment in public transport, bicycle networks, safe pedestrian walkways, and smart mobility solutions. We need reliable means of transport, which will not be a solution of necessity, but a choice. If we continue like this, the only thing we will achieve is adding more lost hours on the road and talking about traffic as a natural phenomenon, as something inevitable. But it is not. The hardship experienced daily by Cypriot drivers is not a rule of life in the modern era, it is the result of many years of inaction. The discussion around traffic should not tire us. It should mobilize us. Because every additional minute spent in a car is a minute taken away from our lives, and no one can afford to waste it.

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