Bucharest City Hall will buy 600 new buses, trolleybuses and trams

The Bucharest City Council approved on Wednesday two draft decisions on buying 400 buses, 100 trolleybuses, and 100 trams. The new buses, trolleybuses and trams will be purchased under four-year multi-annual programs, starting 2017. For both projects, the money will come from the City Hall’s budget. However, the City Hall hasn't mentioned the full value of this project. Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea said that the auto park of the capital’s public transport company RATB is “old,” and that Bucharest's residents want new and performing buses. However, for the public transport to become a viable alternative, the purchasing of new buses needs to be completed by special lanes for buses, parking spaces at the entrance in Bucharest and near the subway stations, and a more efficient collaboration with the road and city police to ease the traffic. Firea previously announced the idea of building six park & ride parking lots at the capital’s busiest entry points. That way, those who transit the city can leave their personal cars in these parks and take a bus or subway from there to the city. She also announced in the summer that the Bucharest City Hall plans to build special lanes for buses, taxis, and emergency intervention vehicles. Bucharest mayor wants more traffic police officers on the streets, sanctions for drivers who park illegally Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com