The Unscheduled Bus Services is calling for the staggered opening of schools as part of a traffic management reform.

In a statement issued today, the UBS said that it has been insisting for years that there is a need for better planning. Members are complaining that a trip that used to take 30 minutes is now taking two hours.

The UBS expressed solidarity with other drivers stuck in traffic and parents whose children arrive at school or back home late. Tourists are also complaining, which means that traffic issues are having a negative effect on the industry.

Measures that need to be introduced, according to the UBS, is different school hours and more incentives for parents who use their private cars to transport children to school to start making use of organised transport.

Heavy commercial vehicles and karozzini should not be allowed on the road during rush hours and no carriageways should be closed to traffic for the watering of vegetation on centre strips.

There should be more police officers and wardens in streets leading to schools to direct traffic. The UBS also called for drivers to be fined if they block the roads after a front-to-rear accident.

Local councils should be more judicious in issuing permits for roads to be closed, while traffic issues caused by open air markets in various localities should be evaluated.

Roadworks should be completed in shorter timeframes and better planning in hospital and health centre appointments, as more often than not these are all scheduled for 9am.