Kyranakis: Yes to dialogue, but without bullying — we must show respect to the citizen who uses the bus

With a connection “in favour of dialogue, but drafting a reddish enactment against blackmail,” Deputy Minister of Transport Konstantinos Kyranakis spoke astir the changes successful the caller Highway Code, the cognition of autobus lanes, the narration with the taxi sector, and the government’s doctrine connected improving transportation.

On Thursday, taxi drivers and owners gathered astatine the gates of the Ministry of Transport erstwhile it became known that the typical invited for dialog did not see the president of the taxi national SATA, Thymios Lyberopoulos. Mr. Kyranakis had invited a taxi delegation for talks since yesterday and stated contiguous connected SKAI vigor that “we cannot prosecute successful dialog with those who tempest into offices and verbally battle ministry employees.”

Regarding afloat loaded taxis, Mr. Kyranakis clarified that pickup and drop-off volition beryllium permitted, but that lone peculiar vehicles utilized by radical with disabilities and zero-emission taxis volition beryllium allowed to run successful autobus lanes. These taxis volition beryllium issued special-colored plates, with precedence ever fixed to autobus traffic.

As for differences of sentiment with erstwhile Deputy Minister Vasilis Oikonomou implicit autobus lane usage, Mr. Kyranakis emphasized that their practice connected each different issues has been and continues to beryllium excellent, with communal respect — thing some person publically affirmed. He acknowledged that the instauration of the caller Highway Code is simply a task involving some the existent and erstwhile leaderships of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

“Respect for the national who uses the bus”
Mr. Kyranakis explained that the caller autobus lane monitoring strategy — featuring cameras connected the beforehand of buses and automatic integer fines — aims to reconstruct precedence to nationalist transport, arsenic is modular successful each modern European city. He stressed, “We yet privation to amusement respect to the idiosyncratic waiting for the bus, who feels invisible.”

New Fleet
Kyranakis besides mentioned that by the extremity of 2025, astir 1,000 caller buses — chiefly electrical — volition beryllium added to the fleet successful Attica. New operator recruitments are already underway. The extremity is to amended the accuracy and reliability of way accusation provided done the OASA app.

New Highway Code: Repeat Offenses and Point System
The caller Highway Code introduces a repetition discourtesy strategy with harsher penalties for recurring violations. For example, utilizing a mobile telephone portion driving (without causing an accident) incurs a good of €350; a 2nd discourtesy raises the good to €1,000, and a 3rd to €2,000, on with a one-year licence suspension. Additionally, a caller integer constituent strategy volition beryllium launched, giving each national afloat entree to their driving history.