Green Friday: Cluj-Napoca ponders making public transport free once a week

The City Hall of Cluj-Napoca is in talks with the local public transport company to offer residents the service for free once per week, mayor Emil Boc announced, Monitorulcj.ro reported.

The announcement comes as the Environment Ministry launched last week the Green Friday campaign, aimed at encouraging people to leave their cars at home for one day and go to work using alternative transportation means such as biking, walking, or public transport. Prime minister Florin Cîțu walked to work last Friday to promote the campaign, as did Cluj-Napoca mayor Emil Boc.

Boc said the project could be implemented starting April, with public transport free on Fridays.

“We will analyze together with the Cluj-Napoca Public Transport Company the financial implications and take the legal steps to draft a local council decision for this,” Boc said.

He explained the Cluj-Napoca City Hall had a “clear ‘green’ direction” and that the city would continue to implement projects developing the alternative mobility urban network, including new bicycle lanes, dedicated lanes for public transport, issuing taxi transport permits for electric cars, and purchasing more electric buses and trolleybuses.

The city plans to have an entirely electric public transport fleet by 2030. At the same time, charging stations for electric cars, e-bicycles or e-scoters are included in every infrastructure project, Boc said in a Facebook post.

Clujul se alătură campaniei „Vinerea Verde” - susțin transport public gratuit pentru toți clujenii în fiecare zi de... Posted by Emil Boc on Friday, March 12, 2021

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