Skip to main content

‘Just the beginning’ for Cyprus’ smart traffic management

Transport ministry officials in Cyprus have launched the Channel programme, a real-time traffic monitoring system that aims to alert motorists through smart technology of delays, traffic jams, accidents, road works and parking spaces. Part of the Cyprus-Greece Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007 to 2013, the channel programme is 80 per cent EU-funded. The objective is to improve traffic conditions on major roads in Cyprus. Drivers will be able to access the system via internet, mobile phones and t
February 26, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Transport ministry officials in Cyprus have launched the Channel programme, a real-time traffic monitoring system that aims to alert motorists through smart technology of delays, traffic jams, accidents, road works and parking spaces.

Part of the Cyprus-Greece Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007 to 2013, the channel programme is 80 per cent EU-funded. The objective is to improve traffic conditions on major roads in Cyprus.

Drivers will be able to access the system via internet, mobile phones and through the radio. To begin with, the system will be installed at major junctions in Nicosia and on the highways.

The programme’s total budget comes to US$2.06 million, of which US$1.2 million will be used to complete the project in Cyprus, which began in November 2012 and is due to be completed in March.

The first phase of the programme is to create a complete online map of Cyprus’ roads, especially within towns and cities. The second phase of the project will see the installation of real-time traffic monitoring devices in order to inform drivers and the police of any traffic congestion, accidents, planned road works and free parking spaces in Nicosia. It is planned that the devices will be installed to cover other towns and cities at a later date.

“Cyprus is becoming digitised when it comes to transport and traffic management. It is a very advanced and innovative system which can have many benefits. This is just the beginning,” Mitsopoulos said.

Related Content

  • Google maps the future of traffic and travel information?
    March 16, 2012
    Will the relentless growth of Google lead to it becoming the ultimate provider of travel information services? Huw Williams investigates Google’s strategy and David Crawford discovers what two principal rivals are doing to keep pace. In the first weeks of 2012 one company staked two divergent claims on the future of transport. One is the science fiction of only a decade ago, turned into reality: the driverless car. The other seems more prosaic, yet in its own way is just as significant a marker of the futur
  • Wi-Fi win-win for mass transit
    October 31, 2014
    David Crawford explores passenger and operator benefits of on-board Wi-Fi Urban commuters’ growing demand for continuous – and reliable - internet connectivity is spurring network operators into the rapid installation of high-grade Wi-Fi access on their surface and underground networks, as well as in their stations. Such moves are often a key part of strategies to maintain and increase ridership levels.
  • Microsoft research aims to predict traffic jams
    April 9, 2015
    Microsoft Research is working with Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil to tackle the problem of traffic jams. The immediate objective of this research is to predict traffic conditions over the next 15 minutes to an hour, so that drivers can be forewarned of likely traffic snarls. The Traffic Prediction Project plans to combine all available traffic data, including both historic and current information gleaned from transportation departments, Bing traffic maps, road cameras and sensors and the so
  • Vivacity demos AI junction control
    March 18, 2021
    How will AI-controlled junctions help smooth the journeys of drivers – and cyclists - in urban areas? Alan Dron looks at an expanding scheme in Manchester, UK, which aims to find out