Cluj-Napoca mayor, Emil Boc, has informed that he has been discussing with CTP (Public Transport Company), to allow residents of Cluj to enjoy free public transport every Friday, starting from April.
Speaking on a local radio station, he announced, “Within the Green Friday project, as it is called, Cluj-Napoca City Hall will implement a free day for public transport every Friday starting with April. We will apply this only from next month, because we need time to prepare the decision of the Local Council and to have decisional transparency so that it can be adopted by the Local Council. We need to agree with CTP to see the possible financial costs for this. In principle, I discussed this issue with the CTP leadership as president of the Metropolitan Association. I agreed that it could be done. Now we are just going to obviously establish the procedural steps that we have described. I will also discuss with the mayors of the metropolitan area and if they contribute, we will extend this gratuity outside the municipality. At the moment I can say that only in Cluj-Napoca the idea will be implemented.”.
He explained that, his hope is for more people to start using public transport as their primary means of getting around the city, therefore reducing traffic and congestion, as well as pollution in the city, which has became a serious topic over the past few years, due to the expansion of the city and with the introduction of more pedestrianised areas.
He later took to Facebook to share the following message:
Cluj joins the Green Friday campaign – I support free public transport for all Cluj every Friday.
Today I came to work, especially to mark the support of the Government's Green Friday campaign through the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests.
In this context, we proposed to implement in Cluj-Napoca, starting even in April, one day with free public transport each week – Fridays.
We will analyze with CTP Cluj-Napoca the financial implications and go through the legal procedures for the development of a City Council decision in this respect, from project to public consultation, etc.
The ′′ green ′′ direction is clear for the Cluj-Napoca Town Hall. Regarding the urban mobility component, modernization of public transport remains a key priority and we continue implementing projects that develop the urban network of alternative mobility – creating new bike tracks that interconnect the city's neighborhoods, arranging public transport lanes on several sections , issuing taxi authorizations for electric cars, as well as continuing to purchase electric buses, trams and trolleybuses.
The goal set for 2030 is to make the whole public transport fleet in the city electric, non-polluting, contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the municipality and the metropolitan area.
Also, within each infrastructure project, charging stations for electric cars or bicycles and electric scooters are installed.
I repeat, I support walking and recommend Cluj to choose at least one day a week this variation or public transport or other alternative modalities to the car.
