Tourist buses create gridlock in Athens
The lack of adequate infrastructure makes situation unbearable every year in the summer
Anarchically parked tourist buses in some of the most central parts of Athens are a major cause of traffic bottlenecks during the summer, making an already bad situation even more unbearable.
With little parking infrastructure to speak of and a chronic lack of planning, traffic jams are intensified, especially when cruise ships arrive in Piraeus as thousands of tourists flock to the Acropolis, the National Archaeological Museum and Monastiraki.
About 250-300 tourist buses reportedly circulate in the historical center on a permanent basis.
“No parking areas have been designated for tourist buses. The biggest problems are located on Amalias Avenue, on Vasileos Konstantinou in front of the Panathenaic Stadium. In general, from the National Museum of Contemporary Art to the columns of Olympian Zeus in both directions, the burden on traffic is great,” says traffic management consultant Kimon Logothetis in comments to Kathimerini.
“The length of a tourist bus corresponds to about four cars and they’re almost 1.5-2 times their width,” he notes.
In response, traffic police have recently been deployed on Amalias Avenue with orders not to allow the parking of tourist coaches.
“The previous administration of the Municipality of Athens had demarcated some stop-parking points on Amalias Avenue, on the ring road at the Dora Stratou Theater, on Ymittou, on Vassilissis Sofias, on Athinon Avenue outside the Agricultural University and on central streets, but they occupy traffic lanes,” he adds, noting that it is a temporary solution that creates problems for traffic.
“At the moment, the only suitable parking place is the Dionysos parking lot below the Acropolis, which can accommodate 11 buses. In any case, of course it is not sufficient. It is imperative to create parking infrastructure for tourist buses. We are now talking about the capture of the center of Athens because tourist buses along with the rest (school buses, urban buses, minibuses, VIP vehicles etc) number almost half the number of vehicles that come out in the morning in traffic,” Logothetis stressed.
He also referred to the aggravating impact of the cruise ships arriving at the port of Piraeus. “From a single cruise ship, 15-20 buses may be needed to transport people to the center of Athens,” he notes.
The municipal authority has prepared a proposal for the development of Water Square in Faliro, and a meeting with all stakeholders is scheduled next week.
