Athens ranks eighth in Europe for the time needed to travel 10 kilometres, which is close to 30 minutes on average, according to figures presented on Monday by National Technical University of Athens Professor Constantinos Kepaptsoglou and the general secretary of the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (SES), during a seminar at the infrastructure and transport ministry amphitheatre.
London occupies first place (33:17 minutes), followed by Dublin (32:45), Barcelona (31:13), Bucharest (31:09), Bordeaux (31:08), Brussels (30:22) and Rome (29:59). Based on the measurements, drivers in both Athens and Thessaloniki spend more than 1/3 of the day (34%) in traffic congestion with the two cities ranking 114th and 123rd, respectively, in the global table.
Thanasis Tsianos, chairman of the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers, said that improving traffic and urban transport conditions in Athens can't be done through wishful thinking and makeshift proposals. It is a continuous process that includes studies, coordination, evaluation and significant financial costs. This process was interrupted during the financial crisis. However, he said, there is now a significant increase in travel demand, as expected, and this dramatically highlights the consequences of disinvestment in the transport sector during the financial crisis.
Tsianos said that the existing fixed-rail transportation network (suburban railway, tram, trolley, metro) needs upgrading and must become more attractive, allowing transfers from cars, bicycle parking areas and better bus connections.
On the public transport using buses, he called for new express bus routes, along with an extension of the timetable of the routes , an increase of depots so that buses gain traction, better policing of bus lanes and an increase of the fleet.