Illustration – Photo: Origo

56 percent disagree with the expansion of bicycle lanes at the expense of roads for cars

Most Budapest residents ‘unhappy’ with mayor’s traffic policies – survey

More than three-quarters of Budapest's residents are concerned about the increasingly heavy traffic congestions in the city and the resulting air pollution, according to a fresh survey by the Szazadveg Foundation, which found that "Budapest disapproved" of Mayor Gergely Karacsony's traffic policies.

Altogether 82 percent of the survey’s respondents expressed concern over traffic jams resulting from traffic lanes being blocked off for cyclists, Szazadveg said. Fully 80 percent said they were concerned about the increased air pollution that came with the congestions. At the same time 61 percent of respondents had nothing negative to say about the increased road space for cyclists, Szazadveg added.

A total of 56 percent of the survey’s respondents disagree with the municipal council’s expansion of bicycle lanes at the expense of roads for cars. In addition, 61 percent said they disagreed with the Budapest leadership’s decision to pave a flower bed at the bridgehead on the Buda side of the Chain Bridge and put a bicycle path on it.

“It is clear that the mayor’s efforts to promote cycling are not in line with the needs of Budapest residents on roads with heavy traffic,” Szazadveg said in its analysis. “The interests of local residents lie in well-thought-out improvements to traffic for both motorists and cyclists, rather than having the various groups of road users be pitted against each other.”

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