Public transport

As more businesses and public offices open their doors to the public on Monday following a government decision to further lift lockdown measures, public transportation services are also expected to pick up after seeing passenger numbers nosedive since the start of the coronavirus crisis.

As of Thursday, May 7, we are restoring the work of the blue and green zone, while at the same time we are beginning to gradually normalize the schedules of urban transport. This was said by Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, BGNES reported.

USR (Save Romania Union) Bucharest proposes six measures to be taken in the case of the public transportation system after May 15, among which the limitation of this system's capacity to 30 per cent and avoiding face to face contact between passengers.

Passengers using public transport as of May 4, the day when the first round of measures relaxing the lockdown will come into effect, should wear a face mask, practice diligent social distancing and avoid unnecessary travel, the government said on Wednesday.

Citizens were also advised to use their car, if possible, instead of public transportation.

There will be no services on Friday on the Piraeus-Kifissia electric railway (ISAP) or the country's railways due to a strike called by the General Confederation of Greek Labor (GSEE) on the occasion of the May Day holiday. 

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Kostas A. Karamanlis said Thursday that he is considering making the use of surgical masks on public transport mandatory when the government starts easing some of the restrictions introduced last month to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Turkey's two largest cities, Istanbul and Ankara, which yesterday came out from a 48-hour lockdown along with 29 other provinces, started the week with new measures for public transport aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Given the 90 percent reduction in urban transport services, a growing number of commuters that had purchased long-duration bus, train and metro cards are reportedly demanding action from the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA). 

The appeals have come particularly from commuters with three-month or annual cards.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has warned that the city's elderly were still widely using the city's public transport despite warnings to stay home amid the coronavirus outbreak.

He noted that the number of elderly people — aged above 60 — who use the megacity's metro and inner-city bus networks, indeed declined by 54 percent over the past two weeks.

The number of commuters on Athens buses and the metro dropped by 50 percent last week and has fallen another 70 percent so far this week due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, according to Transport Minister Kostas A. Karamanlis.

Speaking on Open TV, he also said that intercity buses (KTEL) have reduced the number of their services.