The current government has promoted the most projects and actions on sustainable mobility issues, said on Thursday the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Yannis Karousos, speaking at the 7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility and Intelligent Transport Systems which is being held on December 8 and 9 in Nicosia.
In as far as air transport is concerned, mr. Karousos mentioned that Cyprus has been added to two corridors of the Trans-European Transport Network, the Western Balkans corridor (Cyprus, Greece, Balkans, Croatia, Italy, Austria) and the Black Sea, Aegean and Baltic corridor, which starting from Cyprus and ending in Helsinki, it also joins Mariupol in Ukraine and Moldova, thus sending many geopolitical messages.
Cyprus also succeeded in expanding its internal road network with the inclusion in the Trans-European Transport Network of the Paleochori-Agro motorway, Mr. Karoussos added, while the city of Larnaca was included in the major urban centers along with Nicosia and Limassol due to semi-occupation of the capital and the existence of the airport outside it. “The goal is to pass both telecommunications and energy intelligently through this road network, which must be built in a way that allows the achievement of the goals of the Green Deal,” he emphasized.
In recent years, various initiatives have been promoted to reduce pollution and sustainable mobility, the Minister continued, mentioning for example the completion of the tender process for the transition to the new public passenger transport system and the start of the evaluation of tenders for new modern and “green » bus shelters, emphasizing at the same time that the implementation of all these plans requires more than the political will and cooperation of the local authorities.
The biggest challenges are in the field of sustainable mobility, said the Transport Minister, noting that the current generation will pay a heavy price for a better future for the next. Focusing on the aviation sector, he said that Cyprus promoted a tool for EU-level solutions called the “Entitlement Subsidy Mechanism”, which provides support for aviation to achieve its goals, while reducing the negative impact of the costs of compliance with the new fuel and refueling specifications for air carriers.
Technology and transport systems play a very important role, continued Mr Karousos, with Cyprus already implementing cameras and sensors on motorways to manage traffic and automatically inform drivers, adding that within the month a tender will be announced for the so-called “smart lights” to manage traffic in Nicosia and Limassol using artificial intelligence, with an estimated traffic improvement of between 15% and 35% just by using the technology.
The Minister of Transport also referred to the plan to enhance the use of bicycles, of which many actions are in the process of implementation, in combination with the existing network of 186 km of cycle paths (with another 55 km under construction), which will exceed 250 km. in total, while specifically for Nicosia, a preliminary study for the integrated network of bus lanes will be delivered within days, with the aim of uninterrupted bus traffic throughout the city.
For her part, the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry Natasa Pileidou said that sustainable mobility belongs to the wider context of the need to adopt immediate actions to achieve the transition to green energy, noting that Cyprus has been making rapid strides in recent years to achieve of its climate goals and especially in transport.
In the field of sustainable transport, Ms. Pileidou said that there is a €1.5 million Ministry of Energy funding plan in force until the end of 2023 for the installation of photovoltaic systems in homes to charge electric or hybrid vehicles, the interest in which was boosted by the Ministry of Transport's plans to acquire an electric vehicle.
Another very important aspect of the issue concerns biofuels, continued the Minister of Energy, with the biofuels market showing increasing trends in recent years and the share of blending biofuels in conventional fuels reaching 7.3%, which translates into a decrease of 8% of greenhouse gas emissions in the road transport sector compared to 2005. He added that from 2014 onwards the majority of biofuels consumed in Cyprus are produced from used frying oils after a circular processing process.
The existing energy environmental targets in the transport sector foresee an increase in the gross final energy consumption to at least 14% until 2030, added Ms. Pileidou, adding that hydrogen can also contribute to this effort, for its use in transport Cyprus is expected to have its strategy in place by the end of the year, with initial applications in trucks and buses, as well as shipping and aviation.
On behalf of the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Kyriakos Kokkinos, the Director General of the Deputy Ministry Stelios Chimonas focused his greeting on the digital component for the achievement of the sustainability and development goals, which also concern the largest part of the “Cyprus- Tomorrow”.
He noted that the digital transition projects are focused on promoting digital governance so that the need for physical presence is significantly reduced and gradually eliminated and it is possible for citizens and businesses to process transactions with the public and with each other, in projects that promote the transition in optical fiber networks that are considered more environmentally friendly, but also in the exploitation of new technologies, such as 5G, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, composing an ecosystem of technological and business innovation that will strengthen all sectors.
In particular, he noted that 5G technology is necessary for autonomous and networked driving, while it is expected to significantly improve road safety through connected vehicles that will be able to exchange information in real time, monitor traffic and avoid any incidents.
The above framework also includes the national effort made by the Deputy Ministry for the development of Smart Cities throughout Cyprus, continued Mr. Chimonas, a project of the order of 35 million euros that has been included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan and which utilizes technological solutions and digital data to address key challenges that Cypriot cities face today (pollution, energy consumption, citizen participation).
On behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Kostas Kadis, the First Officer Environment Minister Lakis Mesimeris referred to his welcome to the new legislative arrangements regarding the additional costs to conventional fuels, with the inclusion of road transport, buildings, air transport and maritime transport in a greenhouse gas emissions trading system, costs which will be borne by economy mainly through increased fares.
An ally in this effort is the existence of financial tools and several other issues that should be taken into account from now on, added Mr. Mesimeris, adding that in cooperation with the relevant ministers it was possible to recognize specific specificities of Cyprus and to secure appropriate tools to deal with the challenges, such as the recognition of the isolated system and favorable regulation for sustainable aviation fuels.
