Stages in a rampage: Budapest mayor’s battle with motorists

Although Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony said during the campaign for the 2019 local elections that he would favor public transport and alternative means of transport over cars, no one expected what he did after his election. Bike lanes have mushroomed without a comprehensive plan, with arbitrary closures, traffic chaos and suffocating jams every day. In this article, we present the main stages of a year-long rampage.

Forrás: Videa

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony published his program to discourage the use of diesel vehicles through "positive and negative incentives" already at the beginning of 2019. The details came out a few days later. In a TV interview, he said that life in the city would be better if there were fewer cars, which could be achieved by making public transport cheaper and building P+R parking lots. Nothing has happened since.

 

The boulevard has fallen

In the spring of 2020,

during the first wave of the coronavirus epidemic, Karacsony and his team started to set up a bike lane on Budapest’s grand boulevard,

whose road surface markers were often painted at night, paralyzing the city center in the morning. The president of the Hungarian Automobile Club warned that from September 2020, the start of the school year, there would be traffic chaos in the city center – and that is exactly what happened.

The reconstruction of Blaha Lujza square, which started in the summer of 2021, has also had a significant impact on traffic on the boulevard. The situation was exacerbated by the construction of surface pedestrian crossings at the intersection of the square.

Closure of the Chain Bridge and roads by the Danube

The starting of the renovation of the Chain Bridge in the spring of 2021 exacerbated Budapest's already difficult traffic situation. To add to the chaos, in the summer of 2021 the capital also began renovating the lower quay on the Pest side, closing the stretch of road between Eotvos Square and Margit bridge. 

The public outcry intensified when the mayor announced his plans to turn part of the quay into a pedestrian zone,

making life even more difficult for motorists.

The opening of the bridge in the summer of 2023 did not help the recovery of Budapest's traffic, as the capital refused to allow cars to use the Chain Bridge again.
 

Cycle lane at the expense of ambulances

In August 2023, the municipality even took the liberty of sending a message to the ambulance service. The bicycle lane on Ulloi street has been separated from the rest of the road by posts. This makes it more difficult for ambulances to pass, and cars cannot pull over and give way properly.

“It's unrealistic for an ambulance to have to turn and maneuver between the posts,”

said Pal Gyorfi, spokesman for the National Ambulance Service. The city authorities retorted in a less than professional manner, saying they hoped that Mr Gyorfi would not "drag the ambulance service into the campaign.”

Mazes in the city center

The left-wing districts are also trying to implement the "traffic reduction" plans of the municipality. Peter Niedermuller, the mayor of District VII of former PM Gyurcsany’s Democratic Coalition (DK) party, proved to be the mayor's most diligent pupil in Budapest.

From the beginning of January 2023, a new traffic regime was introduced in the area bounded by the grand boulevard (Nagykorut) and Karoly boulevard (Kiskörút), Kiraly and Rakoczi street, restricting through traffic on three busy streets: Dohany, Dob and Wesselenyi.

The area was essentially turned into a maze for motorists, and the new traffic regime was strictly enforced, with high fines.

The solution was adopted by District VI, led by Tamas Soproni of the Momentum party.

 

Speed reduction, speed control

"The number one solution to reduce the number and severity of accidents is to slow down traffic. That is why we will introduce a general speed reduction and extend the 30 km/h zones in residential areas, with the exception of main urban roads," Gergely Karacsony promised during the election campaign.

The issue of speed limits and speed cameras is usually raised after serious fatal accidents: 

Earlier this year a car crashed into a bus stop, and recently a cyclist was killed on the Arpad bridge.

After these incidents, Karacsony also talked about reducing speed limits and the installation of cameras, but again, rather than a well thought out response, these seemed to be empty campaign promises.

 

Deteriorating public transport

Improving public transport as a way of reducing traffic was a central theme of the mayor's election campaign. The politician also complained that buses, trams and the metro were not comfortable enough.

The promised reduction in fares and season tickets is not yet on the agenda. Quite the contrary:

From 1 September the price of a bus ticket will be and equivalent of 1.17 euros, 1.57 if bought on the vehicle and a ten-journey ticket will cost 10.44 euros.

Meanwhile, the installation of air conditioning in trains of the Metro 3 line has been on hold for almost four years.

 

The man who started nothing

Since Gergely Karacsony took office in autumn 2019, he initiated no major project, construction or renovation work. The renovation of the metro and the Chain Bridge and the redevelopment of Blaha Lujza Square were all started by his predecessor Istvan Tarlos.

Cover photo. Mayor Gergely Karacsony with his fellow politicians in the capital (Source: Videa)