A mandate letter was signed by the Government of Canton Sarajevo (CS), which provided support for the continuation of investments in public transport. The 20 million-euro project will be financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Among other things, the money will be used to purchase trams.
This mandate letter was signed by the CS Prime Minister Edin Forto, Minister of Transport of CS Adnan Steta, and Head of the EBRD in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Manuela Naessl, which provided support for continued investment in public transport in CS, but also the preparation of the ”Public Transport Project Sarajevo – part 4”.
This project envisages the procurement and implementation of an adaptive traffic management system, as well as the procurement of additional trams as part of the ongoing renewal of the vehicle fleet. Besides that, the project also envisages the restructuring of the workforce in the Cantonal Public Communal Utility (KJKP) “GRAS”.
The project will be fully financed by the EBRD in two tranches, with a total value of 20 million euros.
The flow of traffic will be faster by 30 percent.
“When it comes to adaptive traffic management, the purpose of the project is a modern traffic management and control system. With using the existing traffic infrastructure and a modern traffic light management system, remote, automatic, and semi-automatic traffic control will be enabled, where tools for dynamic traffic congestion management will finally be used in real-time. It is estimated that the flow of traffic will be faster by 30 percent on existing roads, ” told Minister Steta.
It is also planned with this project to procure five more trams, in addition to the existing procurement of 15 new ones, according to European and international standards.
“Part of the project is the restructuring of GRAS and taking care of the redundant employees,” Minister Steta emphasized.
Prime Minister Forto noted that investing in public transport and introducing new traffic management systems is of great importance for the citizens of Sarajevo.
“I am happy to continue the started activities related to projects with the EBRD concerning the public transport. This project is another important long-term project of the CS Government that will enable better public transport,” stated Prime Minister Forto.
Manuela Naessl, the head of the EBRD in BiH, expressed satisfaction with the fact that specific steps are being taken to improve public transport and implement the Green Action Plan for the Canton, which was developed under the EBRD Green Cities Initiative, with the support of Japan.
Traffic jams at intersections to be reduced
“Today we signed a mandate letter to prepare the next e-mobility investment project. The project would be fund an adaptive traffic management system that reduces traffic jams at intersections along the city’s two main east-west streets, and we will also support public transport reorganization. This project is a step in the right direction in solving the problem of air pollution and traffic jams in the CS while improving public transport services for citizens.The project will also improve the effects of previous EBRD-financed projects, such as the reconstruction of the tram line and the renewal of the tram and trolleybus fleet, ” Naessl said yesterday.
To recall, in the previous period, the realization of a large number of projects related to traffic enabled by the EBRD began, with which the CS Government will be able to continue cooperation in the future as well, according to the Protocol and Press Service of CS, Klix.ba writes.
