Interim mayor says Bucharest struggles with heavy traffic as 1.7 mln cars are registered, 300,000 enter daily

Bucharest’s interim mayor Stelian Bujduveanu has warned that traffic congestion remains the capital’s most pressing problem, with 1.7 million vehicles registered in the city and another 300,000 cars entering daily from surrounding areas, News.ro reported.

“Half of Bucharest’s 2.1 million residents hold a driver’s license, and while not all two million cars are on the road at the same time, at least one million are circulating daily,” Bujduveanu said in a show at Prima TV.

To cope with the heavy traffic, the capital city has doubled the number of police officers deployed at intersections and near schools since the start of the new school year.

“Today, there are hundreds of officers on the streets, and traffic is visibly better than before,” the interim mayor said.

Bujduveanu added that several measures had been implemented over the summer, including clearing abandoned cars from the central ring road, freeing up bus lanes, and adding 10 kilometers of dedicated public transport lanes. He argued that these steps, though limited, have already helped ease congestion compared with last year.

Still, the official acknowledged the problem remains severe and said new policies will be needed, such as rescheduling deliveries to reduce the number of non-essential vehicles during peak hours.

Public transport, he said, is increasingly becoming a viable alternative, with ridership up by 30% thanks to new tram purchases. “We now have trams at Western standards, and more Bucharest residents are using them,” he noted.

Stelian Bujduveanu, who previously served as deputy mayor, stressed that traffic management projects such as dedicated bus lanes, launched with the support of former mayor Nicușor Dan, must continue if the city is to make long-term progress.

The recent Traffic Index 2025, an analysis carried out by the Institute for Visionary Cities, revealed that drivers in Bucharest lose, on average, 12 working days annually due to congestion.

(Photo source: Teodororoianu/Dreamstime.com)