Symbolically, on October 20, the day when Belgrade was liberated and the Sava bridge was preserved, a protest was organized against his announced transfer from the place where it has been since 1942. The participants of the protest demand to suspend the issuance of the permit for the removal of the bridge, but also to open a broad dialogue on this issue. The authorities announced that the bridge will be closed from November 1, and that the removal will begin at the beginning of 2025. If everything is done with that work, will it affect the increase? crowds u traffic and how?
Assistant professor at the Faculty of Transportation Stamenka Stanković points out for "Vreme": "We looked at the number of movements between the old part of the city and the new part of the city and the distribution by bridges. There was not even ten percent movement on the Old Sava bridge. But the problem is that both Branko Most and Gazela are at capacity during peak hours (in other words, every additional car is a problem), there are long queues and you have to stand still. What will happen to the generally small number of vehicles using the Old Sava Bridge? They will be distributed over these two bridges and possibly the Ada Bridge, but it does not represent a suitable alternative to this bridge. Which means – you will only have an extended time of traffic congestion”.
Previously, the traffic rush hour in Belgrade was between 8 and 9 in the morning, and later in the afternoon between 16 and 18 p.m. Now you don't even know when it is anymore, and the time of hellish crowds almost never ends. Why is the traffic in Belgrade collapsing more and more often?
REASONS FOR OUR STOPPING
Professor of the Faculty of Transportation Nikola Čelar tells "Vreme" that in 2018 the total number of passenger cars in Belgrade was 568.000, which is 336 cars per 1000 inhabitants, and that in 2022 there were 652.000 registered passenger cars, i.e. the degree of motorization was 388 passenger cars per 1000 people. "So, that's 50 or so more cars per 1000 inhabitants, and that's one of the reasons why traffic jams have increased in Belgrade," explains the "Vremena" interlocutor.
The increase in population density, according to Professor Čelar, also affects the increase in crowds in Belgrade. Namely, in the places where there was a house where, for example, one family lived, a residential building with eight, nine or 15 apartments was built.
"The third reason is of a historical nature. When, more than a century ago, the network of the narrow central part of Belgrade was conceived, it was not assumed that there would be such an expansion of road traffic. However, the network of New Belgrade was created for passenger cars, but now due to these previous two reasons, it can be seen that it is also nearing the end of its capacity", Professor Čelar points out.
Master traffic engineer from the Institute for Urban Mobility Igor Velić told "Vreme" that there are several reasons why the traffic congestion in Belgrade is increasing, but the first one is that there are no people working in the leadership of the City Administration of Belgrade who are professionally and professionally dedicated to solving it. traffic problems.
"In order to start solving a traffic problem, the government must act responsibly and have professional people with experience. If this is not the case, as it is now, of course the city will be neglected", explains Velić. When asked if someone asks the profession to solve the problem or point out potential solutions, Stamenka Stanković confirms that this is not the case.
HOW TO RELIEF THE STREETS
Nikola Celar points out that the problem of high traffic demand, that is, congestion, can be solved in two ways. "One is to increase the capacity of the network, and the other is to reduce the traffic demand, that is, to influence the traffic demand. And increasing the capacity of the network would imply the construction of some new infrastructure", he explains. Professor Stanković adds that Belgrade lacks exactly that, as well as that the city has already developed projects that are not being worked on.
According to Celar, the key thing in Belgrade is to complete the missing traffic infrastructure. "For example, some projects are in the implementation phase, such as Patriarch Pavle Boulevard. However, you have some projects such as Peta lasta, the Sava Maškovića roundabout, Crnotravska, the internal highway ring and others that have not been completed, and they would affect the completion of the basic network of the city of Belgrade, which would partially increase capacity and lead to a reduction in congestion ", emphasizes Professor Celar.
LONE DRIVERS
Two years ago, the mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić, speaking about the solution to the problem of traffic jams and pollution, cited as an example a potential measure that would prohibit one person in a vehicle during rush hour traffic.
"When we did the last survey, the average occupancy of a passenger car was 1,3 passengers including drivers. So, a driver and a third of a human on average. In other words, it's completely insane that you bought something that has five seats and that you mostly drive yourself. However, the different distribution of temporal and spatial activities makes it impossible for us to all ride together when we talk about the level of one family", Celar points out.
He adds that at the level of Europe and the world, it is a recognized practice that people who work in the same place or in a similar location make split trips.
"At the level of Europe and the world, they are trying to stimulate such movements by giving a special lane. For example, if there are three or more of you, you have the right to move in that lane to avoid congestion. However, they also have problems and various system cheats. For example, people put dolls in their cars or, if a bus stop is there, pick up two people just to transport them to the other side of the bridge for you to make a profit", emphasizes Celar.
He goes on to say that if a new mode of transportation were to be introduced, such as a light rail system or a subway, it could have the effect of reducing the number of passenger car users. With the fact that certain criteria should be met that would lead people to use public transport, such as a shorter or at least equivalent travel time and appropriate comfort. Currently, apart from cheap tickets, our public transport hardly has any advantages.
HOW MUCH PUBLIC TRANSPORT IS USED
Nevertheless, Čelar says that the City of Belgrade has a fairly high percentage of public transport use: "That percentage is over 40 percent, which is rare. European cities each have around 20 percent of the use of public urban transport. The reason for this in Serbia is economic."
If we want to relieve traffic, people from passenger cars should switch to public transport, and that requires investments in it, Igor Velić points out. "For example, cycling and walking should make up about 20 percent of traffic and they are usually combined with public transport. But there are no rental systems in Belgrade, so that when someone comes by bus, they can rent a bicycle, electric scooter, and shorten the journey by a kilometer or two, and then there is no need to enter the city center by vehicle," he points out.
DOES A BICYCLE HELP?
In Novi Sad, there is a system of subsidizing citizens for the purchase of bicycles on the territory of that city, and the goal of this project is, among other things, to reduce traffic congestion.
However, what is the situation in Belgrade? Celar explains that bicycle movements finish the job in a radius of five or six kilometers, and it is also true that there is a lot of passenger car movement in that range. Thus, the bicycle could represent a suitable alternative, but this requires a quality bicycle infrastructure, not only paths, but also safety, pleasant surroundings and the connection of those paths. He adds that the bicycle also has certain limitations, namely the weather and the inability to transport cargo.
Stamenka Stanković says that the cycling section in New Belgrade has been developed, but this does not solve the problem of communication between the old and new parts of the city, which is the source of congestion.
"If you don't have adequate public transportation, you don't have pedestrian and bicycle paths, then you haven't offered citizens a different kind of mobility," says Igor Velić.
Stamenka Stanković further explains: "When looking for solutions, everyone expects, for example, that if a bridge is built, congestion will be solved." Nothing will be solved. That bridge can even cause an even bigger problem, attracting additional passenger cars. Let's say, we have the Bridge on Ada, which has partially relieved crossings over the rivers, but when you leave the Bridge on Ada, you still don't have a network that should accept that traffic, because Patriarch Pavla Boulevard is still not finished, the tunnel through Topčidersko brdo is also not finished. That bridge has some of its own capacity, but that capacity is still not used enough for what it was planned for. So, we have a high-capacity bridge with a small number of traffic demands on it". The interlocutor of "Vremena" concludes that there is no single magic solution, but that they need to be developed in parallel - such as the completion of infrastructure, public transport, lanes, adaptable systems such as smart traffic lights - in order to bring about change.
