Chisinau will have an Urban Mobility Plan. The document, a premiere for the municipality, will be developed by the Chisinau City Hall, with the support of the UNDP “Moldova Sustainable Green Cities" Project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The Urban Mobility Plan is a strategic planning document in the development of road and pedestrian infrastructure, public and private transport, parking facilities, and creating bicycle infrastructure.

“Chisinau cannot be developed without a strategic and sustainable planning considering the urban realities and citizens’ needs. The Urban Mobility Plan will help us efficiently invest public money to improve the transport system in the city so that people have equal access to transport, whether public or private, and traveling to the city to be accessible, comfortable and secure,” stated Ruslan Codreanu, general interim mayor of Chisinau municipality.

The lack of a developed public transport network, as well as alternative mobility solutions (cycling tracks, pedestrian infrastructure) make people increasingly use their personal cars to travel to the city. In 2017 in Chisinau there were 281,349 vehicles, out of which – 198,735 private cars, 30% more than in 2009, according to the data from 2017 Register.

“Chisinau suffers from chronic traffic jams, road infrastructure is overburdened, public spaces and sidewalks degrade due to illegal parking, and the air pollution level is steadily rising. It is necessary to rethink the transport network so that we can offer safe and comfortable alternatives to Chisinau either by public transport, by private transport, by bicycle or by walking,” mentioned Inga Podoroghin, Programme Specialist, Energy & Environment, UNDP programme.

UNDP Moldova offers expertise to the City Hall in developing an Urban Mobility Plan that will provide solutions for a balanced development of urban transport and will promote sustainable mobility models that will generate economic and environmental benefits.

In the process of the plan’s development, Chisinau residents will be invited to public discussions on urban development issues such as public and private transport, parking, road, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, urban public space status, accessibility and urban safety. The first round of public consultations will take part on Wednesday, 30 of January, at the Urban Planning Workshop.

A team of international and national experts will work on the document, in cooperation with the Municipal Design Institute “Chisinauproiect” and the German company A + S Transproiect.

“Moldova Sustainable Green Cities” Project, implemented during 2018-2022, has a total budget of 2.72 million USD, out of which 2.64 million USD are covered by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and 80,000 USD – by UNDP Moldova.