Filenews 10 January 2026 - by Ioanna Mantziipa
Dozens of professional bus drivers are facing the loss of their jobs, who are at risk of losing their professional license, due to the systematic recording of violations by photo-marking cameras. The daily effort to ensure the safety of passengers turns into a "misdemeanor", while the lack of infrastructure and indifference leave drivers facing their professional extermination.
In the Limassol district, where the number of photo-marking cameras is particularly large, the trade unions of professional bus drivers are in turmoil. Pressure for immediate reaction and protest is intense, as more than 20 drivers are at risk of losing their professional license and becoming unemployed due to the accumulation of 16 penalty points within two years. Almost all violations concern a momentary violation of a red light (from 0.10 to 2 seconds) and mainly on the "alt" line.
In the previous period, the trade unions at a national level had raised the issue before the Government, asking for specific measures and infrastructure, such as the installation of countdown timers. Despite their efforts, their request fell on deaf ears.
Speaking to "F", the Director of Human Resources and Communication of EMEL, Petros Theocharides, emphasizes that in Limassol the problem is extremely acute among the drivers of the most successful bus route in Cyprus, the "30" route, which covers the entire coastal front of the city, with a frequency of less than 10 minutes, i.e. with almost 80 routes per day.
As he explains, along this route, a 12-meter bus driver makes four trips in each direction every day, passing through photo-marked intersections 12 times on each route, a total of 48 times a day. For at least five days a week, the driver passes by large bus, usually with 40-50 passengers, through photo-marked intersections 240 times a week or 960 times a month or, even more indicatively, more than 10,000 times a year.
"If, in the difficult road conditions, with the traffic problem, with standing passengers, mothers with small children, the driver decides, even at a speed of 15 km/h, to protect the passengers and not to apply the brake abruptly when it suddenly lights up red, even at a rate of 0.0006%, then within a year, with six violations per 10,000 crossings, He will lose his job and will not be able to work with either his professional or personal driver's license, since he will collect 18 penalty points. At 16 points, he essentially loses his license to practice his profession," says Mr. Theocharidis.
He confirms that more than 20 EMEL drivers, based on the photo-tagging complaints of the last 20 months, are at risk of losing not only their jobs, but also their professional status in general, due to penalty points, since they will not be able to drive for a long time.
"We are paying for indifference and incompetence," say the bus drivers
Drivers contacted by "F" report that, in most cases, with many passengers on the bus, the red light comes on when the bus is one to two meters before the intersection. They don't have time to stop. If they hit the brakes abruptly, passengers, especially standing ones, are at risk of injury and there are such examples, even when the bus is moving at 10-20 kilometers per hour and not at 50, they point out.
In addition, even if the traffic light lights up orange during the crossing, a 12-meter bus is "caught" in red, since it cannot complete the crossing due to its length, they add. "Those responsible should ask for records of incidents where infants leave the hands of passengers or where passengers knock on doors that shatter or fall on their knees and are injured, due to sudden braking at speeds close to 10-15 kilometers per hour," they say.
"We prefer to suffer the serious consequences rather than endanger passengers," they emphasize, calling for measures and discussing the readiness of dynamic reactions. The countdown, the extension of the time with orange are perhaps some solutions, in all other countries they are applied, in us no one is interested", they note.
"We have a solution, since we suffer and learn," adds another bus driver. This is to stop with a green light before each intersection and wait until it lights up red and green again, so that we can pass safely and without the risk of cameras, he adds, regardless of the irritation of other private vehicle drivers and the burden on traffic. It is a measure to protect us, perhaps the only one because of the wider indifference," he concludes.
Who pays for recognized mistakes?
They point out that at some intersections in Limassol with photo-marking cameras, from their installation until recently, the arc for a right turn worked problematically, as a result of which drivers of 12-meter and 9-meter buses were punished dozens of times, because they did not have time to cross in time. This led to the accumulation of penalty points, loss of profession and a serious financial burden.
In these cases, the error was acknowledged and the cameras were corrected, which is evidenced by the fact that there have been no complaints since then. However, the consequences continue to be paid by bus drivers who accumulated penalty points and fines, they emphasize.
