More bus lanes for city center
The Transport Ministry is expected to add 4 kilometers of new bus lanes in central Athens by the end of the year in a bid to help ease traffic problems, a source said yesterday. Starting in September, lanes will be exclusively used for buses on Papadiamantopoulou (near the Hilton hotel) and Eratosthenous (Pangrati) streets. Sources said that stricter supervision by police of bus lanes recently has helped increase their average speed. A study conducted by OASA, the Athens Urban Transport Association, showed that buses can reach speeds of about 21 kilometers an hour when the lane is free of cars. Otherwise, buses travel at a slower 12 to 15 kilometers per hour. The success of the new lanes will depend on how well they are policed, the source said. In 2004 there were 39 kilometers of bus lanes stretching through the central parts of the city, with another 13 kilometers added during 2005.
