The EBRD is lending 15 million Euro to the municipality of Alba Iulia to fund the rehabilitation of the city’s public transport infrastructure. The project will be co-financed with the European Union.

The Bank’s loan will be used to redesign and refurbish more than 15 km of streets in the city, which will see the installation of key measures to improve the urban environment. These include dedicated bus and bike lanes, electric vehicle charging stations, new intelligent traffic management and safety systems, and new public lighting.

The improved road layout will reduce traffic congestion and enable more efficient use of the urban transport network, resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions. Thanks to this investment, which underscores Alba Iulia’s participation in the global drive for sustainability, some 50,000 thousand residents, including cyclists, pedestrians and public transport users, will benefit from better air quality and safer, more accessible and more comfortable journeys.

With this project, Alba Iulia joins the EBRD’s Green Cities programme, becoming the fifth Romanian city to join the flagship programme, which helps cities identify and address their urban development challenges. As a next step, the Bank will help Alba Iulia to develop its Green Cities Action Plan, which will support the expansion of investment and green policies in the city to address its most pressing environmental concerns.

Mayor of Alba Iulia Gabriel Plesa said: “We are honoured to see this partnership with a financial institution such as the EBRD and the openness it has shown to the needs of our community. It demonstrates the strength, performance and eminently positive image enjoyed by the municipality of Alba Iulia at a European level, as well as our desire to grow rapidly, even if local resources are limited, as they are in most Romanian municipalities. However, this has not stopped us from wanting more, from looking further and finding in the EBRD the most suitable partner from a support perspective – and not just in terms of the financial assistance that Alba Iulia needs right now – to put its plan into practice.’’

EBRD Green Cities is a fast-growing urban sustainability programme with a financing volume of 5 billion Euro, launched in 2016 to address the enormous environmental challenges presented by urban conurbations. More than 60 cities in the economies where the EBRD invests currently participate in the programme.