The project was designed for five years and is intended to make public transport in Chisinau more convenient for movement, give it priority on the roads and raise it to a new qualitative level.
Why was the Polish city of Lublin chosen as a model? According to experts, this city has achieved the best practices in improving the system of urban traffic management. The implementation of the traffic management system in Lublin was estimated at 6.42 million euros, 85% of which was the EU share. Lublin is one of the three cities in Poland where the trolleybus system is present along with buses, and today this type of public transport is recognized as the most environmentally friendly.
The project in Chisinau started in 2022, when the state of public transport and the organization of its movement became a serious problem. It is for the people of Chisinau to judge to what extent it has been solved.
Among the most visible results are dedicated and redirected lanes for public transport, which significantly saves travel time for passengers.
According to local authorities, the waiting time for public transportation on routes with dedicated lanes has been reduced by about 10%. And the average speed of trolleybuses and buses has increased from 13-14 km/h to 16-18 km/h. In addition, the separation of buses and trolleybuses from the general traffic flow contributes to safer and more predictable traffic both for passengers and other road users. This leads to the fact that private car owners often prefer to ride a trolleybus.
One of the objectives of the project was stated to be the establishment of a Traffic Monitoring Center (CMT). It was launched in November 2024. A few months later, the Center started to provide detailed analysis, providing technical support to improve urban mobility and road safety in Chisinau.
According to reports from the Mayor’s Office, CMT analyzed the areas of greatest risk for pedestrians, especially near educational institutions. Thus, it was found that the most dangerous the areas around the Alecu Russo Theoretical Lyceum (Rișcani sector), Kindergarten No. 12 (Mihai Eminescu Street) and the Moldovan-Ukrainian Theoretical Lyceum named after Mihail Kotsiubinschi (Mihai Eminescu Street).
Another important aspect of CMT’s activities has been its active involvement in supporting road infrastructure rehabilitation projects. For example, technical analysis was carried out for the rehabilitation projects of Mesajer Street, Industriale Street and Mircea cel Batryn Boulevard. As part of this process, 18 different scenarios were modeled to assess the current traffic situation and the possible impacts of the upgrades. The study showed that the upgrading of Industriale Street could significantly contribute to traffic optimization by intercepting some of the traffic from nearby highways.
In addition, smart traffic sensors have been installed as part of the CMT operation. The first 4 sensors were installed at the intersection of Dacia Boulevard – Bucureşti and Ciuflia Streets, one of the busiest areas of the city. Two additional sensors appeared at the section of Dacia Boulevard and Ciuflja Street. They are high-performance devices designed to collect important data in real time, without recording images or violating the privacy of road users. The data collected by the sensors is needed to develop a digital model of the intersection – a detailed simulation of real-time traffic behavior. This model will form the basis for testing traffic optimization scenarios, including traffic light timing adjustments, lane reorganization, and other measures to reduce congestion, improve road safety, and improve urban mobility.
Among the most important planned actions for CMT are the installation and commissioning of traffic cameras to monitor the situation in real time at selected locations. As well as integration with the electronic ticketing system, which will provide new tools for monitoring and managing public transportation.
Testing of the electronic ticketing system within the pilot phase was conducted on trolleybus route No. 30, one of the busiest routes in the city, which connects Chisinau International Airport with the center of the capital.
During the test, seven trolleybuses were equipped with digital ticket checking equipment. Passengers were given the opportunity to purchase tickets in two ways. The first one allows cash payment, the ticket is purchased directly at the charging point, where an electronic device is used to issue it. The second option is electronic purchase through the mobile application or web portal “e-Bilet Chisinau”, available in the App Store and Google Play. The purchased ticket is displayed in the app in the form of a QR code and must be scanned when boarding the vehicle using the same validator.
The pilot stage allowed to evaluate the work of the system in controlled conditions, to identify possible technical and operational problems and also to observe the interaction of passengers with the new system.
The data collected as a result of the testing indicates a significant interest of passengers in the use of modern payment solutions. According to a recent survey, about 60% of Chisinau residents, regardless of age, would prefer to pay for trips using digital solutions, such as a bank card, a card in the form of a travel ticket or a mobile application.
The project also developed a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for Chisinau, which will be a strategic framework for modernizing transport and promoting green mobility.
The cooperation between Chisinau and Lublin will continue. The relevant Agreement was signed during the visit of the delegation of the Roads and Public Transport Authority of Lublin to the General Directorate of Urban Mobility of Chisinau.
