Budapest Wins EU's European Mobility Week Award

Budapest has won the European Commission's award for the programs and developments implemented in the framework of last year's European Mobility Week, the Mayor's Office of the Municipality of the City of Budapest announced on Friday.

The annual Mobility Week, organized by the European Commission, aims to promote sustainable transport and make it more accessible. Last year, the Brussels-based body evaluated events in 64 cities in 21 European countries between September 16 and 22.

According to the information, Budapest's recognized initiatives under the program included a car-free weekend organized in cooperation with the Budapest Transport Center (BKK) and a European Car Free Day on a weekday, during which Mayor Gergely Karácsony presented plans for a people-friendly and green renewal of the lower quay of Pest. The program also included events for public and professional audiences, organized jointly with the City of Vienna, showcasing good practices in pedestrian and cyclist-friendly developments.

They also said that as part of the 2023 campaign on energy saving opportunities in the transport sector, Budapest Közút (the operator of public roads in the capital) has signposted nine kilometers of traffic-lighted cycle-friendly routes in the direction of Örs vezér tere, Csömör, Sashalom and Szilaspatak, as well as Rákosmente. Eight hundred meters of Gázgyár Street, leading to the Római river bank, have been made safer for cycling to work on weekdays and for weekend excursions, and a new pedestrian crossing has been built at the intersection of Zugligeti and Zalai roads, where a crèche, two kindergartens and a primary school are located.

On the occasion of Mobility Week, an exhibition was on display in the City Hall Park, showing the transformation of Budapest's public spaces from their original pedestrian-friendly face to the results of their car-centric redevelopments, and then back to their human-friendly form, they said.

The European Commission's award was received in Brussels on Thursday evening by Kata Tüttő, Deputy Mayor for Urban Management, and Ada Ámon, Head of the Climate and Environment Department of City Hall's Mobility Week program.

At the award ceremony, Herald Ruijters, Deputy Director General for Mobility and Transport of the European Commission, praised Budapest for its achievements in energy saving and for the steps taken to make the Hungarian capital's public spaces pedestrian and cycle-friendly in response to one of the main challenges of the Russian war against Ukraine.

Kata Tüttő stressed that despite the challenges of the energy crisis, Budapest has maintained a high level of public transport, focused on energy efficiency and security of supply of public services. Budapest will spend most of the EU funds that will open up on new tram lines and vehicles, she said.

On behalf of the Mayor's Office, Ada Ámon said the award showed that Budapest could win European recognition for sustainable transport even in a difficult financial climate.

Sixty-four European cities competed for the award, with Budapest, Innsbruck in Austria and Amadora in Portugal making it to the final.