Between 15 and 17 June 2022 Magyar CIVINET hosted the delegation of Czech and Slovak CIVINETs. The goal of their study tour to Budapest was to learn about the mobility and city development of the capital with a special focus on the sustainable elements.
The event series started at the Czech Embassy whose representative welcomed the group. There were three presentations: the first was held by Tünde Hajnal, the head of mobility planning at BKK. She talked about the Budapest SUMP of 2019, which is under review. The main goals, strategies and visions of the capital were in the centre of the presentation. This was followed by the presentation of Gergely Horn, the railway development manager at the National Transport Centre (NKK, before: Budapest Development Centre), in which he talked about the Railway Development Plan. He talked mainly about the construction of a tunnel under the Danube connecting the two main railway stations of the city, abolishing the historical terminus station system to increase the capacity of the railway significantly in Budapest. The third presentation was held by Noémi Szabó, urban planner at Mobilissimus. She talked about the Budapest Agglomeration Cycling Strategy. The goal of this project – which is also implemented by NKK – is to make a link between the capital and its agglomeration through a better-connected cycling network.
The short day ended with a walk in the Citypark (Városliget) where András Szele, lead expert at Mobilissimus and András Ekés, managing director at Mobilissimus talked about the car free plans, the new investments and showed a few touristic sights as well.
The second day began at BKK Dispatcher Centre where the participants had a chance to learn about the centre’s operation in practice. The system was established in 2014 and it allows a real-time-based, 24-hour monitoring of the capital’s traffic, and in case of emergency, it is possible to intervene as quickly and efficiently as possible.
After that – with a little detour – the group took the driverless underground to Kelenföld, where they visited the intermodal node of the railway station, the recently established P+R and the bus station. From the top of Etele Plaza, the participants could see the beautiful new developments of the district. The afternoon continued at the CAF tram depot in Budafok where the colleagues talked about the technical details of the facility. The day was concluded at Gellért-hill: due to the closure of Citadella, the participants admired the view from one level below. Here – apart from the touristic sights – the MOL Tower, the Athletic Stadium and the Kopaszigát were in focus as professional curiosities.
The study tour ended with a 2-hour walk on the third day, when they had a chance to see one of the micro-mobility points, the traffic calming solutions at Ráday street and the riverside – which incited a huge public debate among professionals as well as the inhabitants recently.
