Case Study: Transportation in Romania

"In town, without my car!" campaign - Romania

Summary

On the 22nd of September 2006, for the first time in Brasov, ABMEE (Agency for the Management of Energy and Environmental Protection Brasov) together with the Brasov Municipality and the Environmental Protection Agency of Brasov organised the "In town, without my car!" campaign.

This event is organised annually on the same date (22 September) and consists in promoting and raising awareness on mobility and efficient transport by restricting access on one or more traffic ways that are otherwise used.

This European campaign is initiated by the European Commission - DG Environment, and in 2000 became an international event, with participation of municipalities from South America and Asia.

Results

• A main result is that an estimated 500 citizens (mostly young) participated in the 8 hour event and more that 200 prizes were awarded.
• The costs of the event were covered by sponsor's contribution.
• Equipment for the Brasov skate park were fabricated and donated to the Municipality.
• Air and noise measurements were conducted in two days in order to show the impact of traffic on life quality in the city.

Lessons learned and repeatability

The measurements performed in the frame of this initiative have shown that the city centre is especially polluted. As a result the city planners have started rethinking the way traffic should be managed, especially in the old part of the town. Several measures have been taken:

• A pedestrian crossing in the city centre has been moved 10 m up the street (thus fluidising the traffic).
• Several roundabouts were constructed - one of them on the street were the campaign took place.
• The local transport company has created new lines for the old centre with smaller buses (shuttle buses).
• The tramway of the city has been removed. It was inefficient and poorly constructed. The streets where the tramway was are now being widened, but the good news is that not all the street will be destined for motorised traffic - bicycle lanes are being constructed on these streets.

ABMEE applied and won financing in a PHARE call for proposals in order to continue organising the event in 2007. It is a 12 month project and consists of a much larger event than in 2006 and also the creation of an air quality strategy for Brasov.

The municipality intends to organise this event each year and with it hopes to influence the behaviour of the citizens.