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| Learn from our expierience and realize measures following our instructions. |
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copyright 2002 by the ARTS Consortium. ARTS is a project within the fifth framework programme of the European Union - competitive and sustainal growth.
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Description of the demonstration in several languages
de | en | es | fi | gr | hu | sw
Place: Messary Valley, Greece
The Municipality of Rouvas on the edges of Messara Valley in Southern Crete made the decision to undertake the transportation of students to the local elementary and secondary school in the main village of Gergeri. Until now parents had to drive their children to school or students had to use the regular bus service. The Municipality already owned a mini-bus that was used only occasionally for school trips or social events. Now the mini-bus has been put into full service following 2 different routes and a fixed timetable each weekday.
At the same time inhabitants living in outer settlements can use the empty seats for trips to the shops or to other services that are available only in Gergeri. Of great importance to the elderly population was the addition of second destination to the service: the health centre located in a town 15 kilometres away. Until now the elderly had to rely on relatives or acquaintances for a visit to the doctor since in Greece possession of a drivers licence is very rare for this age group.
The experience about operating school and passenger transport gained from the demonstration that started in December 2002 will enable the Municipal Government to compete and gain access for available state transportation funds.
The main problem in Greece is the “key” position of one operator (KTEL), that holds the monopoly of bus services. KTEL offers inter-city routes, routes to tourist destinations and (decreasing) school transportation. The operator is neither willing to introduce new forms of public transport nor interested in co-operating with ARTS. Thus, they has even started to boycott ARTS by threatening to withdraw their service from municipalities that participate in the project. Nonetheless the demonstration will be set up and operated, thanks to a few “forward-looking local delegates and officials”. Furthermore, the funding was very difficult to secure and involved a great deal of persuasion.
The demonstration project in Greece shows the difficulty of breaking into a monopolistic market and the importance of forward-looking and dedicated local stakeholders to enforce new ideas.
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